NSW Land and Primary Industries Low Emissions Options Report

Background

The NSW Land and Primary Industries Low Emissions Options Report aims to support the transition to a low emissions future in which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are reduced and carbon sequestration is enhanced, while maintaining the productivity and sustainability of NSW primary industries.

The NSW government has legislated targets to reduce NSW GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 and 70% by 2035, compared with 2005, and to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050, and committed to supporting the growth of the agriculture industry sector during the transition to a net zero economy. While there are many measures that could provide substantial abatement, eliminating emissions from the agriculture sector is recognised as implausible, and inconsistent with maintaining global food security and a productive and profitable primary industries sector. Land-based carbon sequestration through vegetation and soil management can counterbalance the remaining emissions.

This report points to opportunities where investment in GHG emissions abatement measures could focus, informing assessments of pathways to achieve net zero, and future research priorities and areas of focus for rural research and development corporations (RDCs), peak farming bodies and the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub’s Land and Primary Industries Network (LPIN), as they develop future programs.

This work was developed through a collaborative project between the NSW DPIRD, Climate-KIC Australia and the LPIN. It was funded by the Primary Industries Productivity and Abatement Program managed by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and the LPIN.

Read the full report here

This report comprises:

• an introduction summarising the aim, scope and context;
• a short description of the approach taken;
• an overview of suggested actions, categorised into five focus areas;
• detailed sets of actions to support adoption of the abatement measures, including summaries of the stakeholder feedback and barriers to adoption;
• cross-cutting actions under each of the five focus areas; and
• a final section presenting results of the feasibility assessments of the abatement measures, including estimation of adoption rates, MACs (marginal abatement costs), where available, and broad estimates of potential abatement in 2030.

Material that underpins the findings of this report is provided in the following appendices:

• Appendix 1 contains details of the project methodology;
• Appendix 2 details the relevant initiatives and policies mentioned throughout;
• Appendix 3 lists companion reports that informed the Roadmap or present additional details of methods or results, and are available separately.