Action on climate change in South Canterbury's food bowl
Climate change will become one of the major challenges producers face in continuing to grow the regions $4 billion food and fibre industries, organisers of an upcoming public meeting on the issue in Timaru say. Ensuring the region remains an important food bowl for national and international markets through a changing climate is the aim of Commercial Food Resilience in A Warming Climate, on July 5, part of the Action on Climate Change series of events hosted by the council. Its climate change adviser Rhys Taylor said while producers would face challenges at home, those with an export focus would also face increasing demands from export markets seeking products with lower embodied greenhouse-gas emissions. Weve got a range of speakers covering the whole chain from production to consumption, and will then explore the complexities and options for resilience in commercial-scale food production and distribution, Taylor said. READ MORE: * Timaru urged to create a trust to tackle climate change together * Our eating habits could lead to 1C of warming by 2100, new study says * Pricing emissions is not the same as reducing them, and it won't do that In fast-changing circumstances, no-one yet has the answers, so together well need to both challenge and support each other to find them. Speaking on the night will be Venture Timarus Nigel Davenport who would talk about Sustainable is Attainable, a major initiative by South Canterbury food producers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and establish a resilient regional food processing base. Melissa Clark-Reynolds, of The Future Centre, would also explore global food trends. Taylor would also share May 2023 customer impressions of retailing and public service actions in the UK, and evidence of fast-building public awareness and changing consumer demands, with consequences for NZ exporters, while South Canterburys Anita Wreford, now professor at the Lincoln University Agricultural Economics Research Unit, would discuss The Deep South Science Challenge and how climate change would affect land use and food production. She would be accompanied by Alan Wreford on scoping potential new food production systems. Climate Strategy facilitator Dr Phil Driver would also introduce the proposal to launch the South Canterbury Climate Trust, which would act as an advisor on climate matters to business, community, local and regional government. In May, Driver presented a report to the Timaru District Council , highlighting the impacts of climate change on the region, which were expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and could see thousands of climate change refugees arriving in South Canterbury. Driver was also the independent contractor commissioned to develop a strategy to help Timaru tackle the impacts of climate change, and in his presentation told councillors those in the Milford Huts community who chose to opt to relocate further upstream together, farming land would have to be rezoned. At the time, he said while there could be losses, there would also be new opportunities. One possibility was an aquaculture industry created in new wetland areas. Half the American seafood harvest comes from wetlands. He also said the crops grown in the region needed to be looked at, as it would likely get a lot more diseases and pest going through for a lot of our crops, which will become unviable. This would put pressure on the economy, and there were implications for the council, such as possible changes to the District Plan to allow alternative crops to be grown, he said at the time. The event was free but ticketed (with limited space), so people are asked to book at timaru.govt.nz/climatechange. It would be held at 6pm at the Ara Timaru Campus, TG block.