An intergovernmental panel on climate change is set to release its first report since 2013, analysing the impact rising greenhouse gas levels are having on the environment.
The report is poised to focus on methane and its contribution to climate change, with 80 times more warming power over two decades than carbon dioxide.
From now until 2030, global warming has the capacity to exceed 1.5C unless prompt action is taken but Greenpeace’s Russel Norman says it’s not too late.
“We’re at 1.2C right now, so we’re starting to push the boundary of what is safe for humans to be on the planet,” he told Breakfast.
However Norman said with methane making up nearly 44 per cent of New Zealand’s emissions – much emitted by dairy cows – it’s going to take drastic Government action to cut methane emissions.
“We used to have 40,000 dairy cows in Southland, now have 600,0000,” Norman says.
“We’ve overdone the dairy thing, we overshot it; there’s no question about that so we need to pull the dairy numbers back.”
