Business_Spotlight_No3_202..

28 Business Spotlight 3/2020 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

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35 per cent of the world’s trade in dairy products,

and the country’s dairy exports are worth more than

NZ$ 17 billion (€10 billion).

The sheer scale of the New Zealand dairy indus-

try brings with it equally large-scale challenges, for

New Zealand’s ecology and for the health of the

planet. Brad Coombes talks about the “methane and

nitrates that come with an industrialized agricultural

system” and about how the “run-off from dairy op-

erations causes huge issues in terms of water pollu-

tion”. Indeed, water pollution was a major issue in the

2017 election. New Zealand, says Coombes, is “being

forced to recognize the agricultural contribution to

greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s very uncom-

fortable for the nation.”

Professor Robert McLachlan similarly recognizes

the environmental challenges facing the country’s

agricultural industry. McLachlan, a mathematician

at Massey University, runs the Planetary Ecology

blog (blog.planetaryecology.org), which regularly in-

cludes articles by climate experts. “Agriculture is very

sensitive politically,” he explains. “The farming lob-

by is powerful. New Zealand is very delicately poised

politically and it’s not at all clear that the ruling coa-

lition will be re-elected.” Most New Zealanders “are

extremely averse to rapid change,” says McLachlan.

“We also don’t like arguing too much. We don’t have

the culture wars that you see in America, where peo-

ple take extreme positions and get very angry.”

The Climate Change Performance Index for 2020

places New Zealand at a low 37th best in the world,

argue [(A:gju:]

, debattieren

averse: be ~ to sth.

[E(v§:s] , eine

Abneigung gegenüber

etw. haben

bill [bIl] , Gesetz

by-product

[(baI )prQdVkt]

, Nebenerzeugnis

carbon [(kA:bEn]

, Kohlenstoff;

hier: CO 2

controversial

[)kQntrE(v§:S&l]

, umstritten

delicately poised: be ~

[)delIkEtli (pOIzd]

, sich in der Schwebe

befinden

(poised

, ausbalanciert)

EEC [)i: i: (si:]

, EWG

greenhouse gas

[)gri:nhaUs (gÄs]

, Treibhausgas

livestock [(laIvstQk]

, Vieh

net zero

[)net (zIErEU]

, Netto-Null

run-off [(rVn Qf]

, Abfluss

scale [skeI&l]

, Umfang,

Größe(nordnung)

sensitive [(sensEtIv]

, heikel

sheer [SIE] , bloß

a long way behind countries such as Sweden and

Denmark. At the same time, climate experts tell us

that the global livestock sector is responsible for

around 14.5 per cent of greenhouse gases. In late

2019, the New Zealand parliament passed a bill to cut

carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. This doesn’t

include methane emissions, a by-product of the

agricultural industry, which are to be cut by between

24 and 47 per cent by 2050.

Economic shocks

Up until the 1960s, the New Zealand economy was

very closely linked to that of the United Kingdom,

with around half of New Zealand’s exports going

to the UK. When Britain joined the EEC (today’s

EU) in 1973, and closed its doors to many agricul-

tural products, the New Zealand economy was hit

hard. It received a further shock to the system in the

1980s, when the Labour government implemented

ultra-radical and highly controversial free-market

reforms. For supporters, the reforms were necessary

to make the country more competitive. But poverty

levels quickly rose and the country soon lost its rep-

utation as being one of the most equal on the planet.

The Maori were worst affected, with unemployment

reaching 25 per cent by 1992, compared to 10 per cent

among the rest of the population.

A key challenge for current prime minister Ardern

is that economic growth has slowed to a five-year low.

An economic force: New

Zealand’s 27.5 million sheep

NEW ZEALAND PLANS TO

CUT CARBON EMISSIONS

TO NET ZERO BY 2050