Information on emissions

Details of the request

1A – (supplementary question) 

The refusal is noted but is not acceptable on the basis a decision has been made by the Climate Change Commission (CCC) based on how emissions are calculated. Section 5, page 16 refers. 

My supplementary question is, when will the public be advised why is there a need to reduce agricultural GHG emissions? 

The answer must not affect the building of the sectors resilience to climate change.  

There is just no evidence the two matters are related. If there is then please tell me? 

Please also note a recent quote by Bryce Edwards; 

“Bureaucracies are essentially abusing the OIA by keeping public information secret, or at least delaying its release, and manipulating the process to suit authorities and politicians.’’ 

2A  - – (supplementary question) 

Which Ministry will be responsible for the updating and maintenance of the GHG inventory, if and when it might be finally approved? 

3A  – (supplementary question) 

My question 3 above has not been answered. 

Please provide the specific clauses in the IPCC report that MfE have relied on as the factual and scientific evidence to answer the questions. 

a. Methane contributes to global warming 

b. Methane keeps the planet a lot warmer. 

Please advise who was the qualified person who scientifically fact checked the IPCC Clauses? 

The IPCC use computer modelling and the estimated 0.5°C warming has not been proven to be due to methane.

3B – (supplementary question) 

c. CO2 to net zero by 2050 is vital to limit temperatures to 1.5°C. 

Please advise who was the qualified person who scientifically fact checked the IPCC Clauses; that MfE are relied on? 

Did you consult with the information provided in the paper by Coe et al.?

4A. – (supplementary question) 

What is the ‘’standard reporting format’’ that is set out in the Conference of Parties? 

What are the ‘’standardised requirements for reporting national inventories’’? 

Please ensure that your answers include the specific determination of the Agriculture and Waste Sectors, as noted in my request 16 August. 

The lack of transparency needs to be avoided please. 

5A. – (supplementary question) 

I  say CO2 exhaled by humans is acceptable and is not a problem that needs your control. 

What is the point and your scientific evidence  

a. That supports your answer to question 5 above? 
b. That confirms human’s intake of food is equal to, and therefore is a balance with, what the same 5 million humans (4%) exhale as CO2, during a given period? 
c. If plants use the human CO2 to ‘produce energy’ then surely plants also use the CO2 from many other sources for the same ‘energy. 

The result must be that CO2 emissions do not need to be included in the National inventory. 

What then is the total percentage of CO2 NOT used by all plants (and all humans) and included in your ‘national green house gas inventory’? 

It must be a very low percentage, if any at all. 

6A. – (supplementary question) 

The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report was released September 2007. Some 15 years ago and I would suggest is now out of date. 

How has the MfE and CCC checked the modelling data  in this report, to show that the conclusions are scientifically and factually correct? 

Please provide reference to the clauses that were scientifically fact checked and confirmed before recommendations were made to Government. 

7A. – (supplementary question) 

You have not answered my question. 

Please state the 308kt of methane as ppm or pp billion? 

Methane is at a concentration in the atmosphere of 0.016%. That is an average 1.88 ppm.  

What is the total biogenic methane level that was recorded in 2017, converted to parts per million. 

Ie convert 33,518 kt to ppm. 

8A – (supplementary question) 

The science behind the warming effect of methane is not well accepted in recent literature. The IPCC reports are based on computer modelling so MfE and CCC must have had expert advice to check and confirm that methane has contributed 0.5°C. warming over a given period. 

a. Please provide your evidence, as it relates to specific clauses in the IPCC report. 

b. What percentage of methane contributed to the 0.5°C change, 2011-2020? 

c. Please confirm the ‘major impact’ of a 10% change in the concentration of methane.  
10% of 0.0166% being just 0.00166% of all GHGs in the atmosphere

9A

A new paper just published in a peer-reviewed literature has shown that the study the IPCC relied on made some math errors and also relied on obsolete data.  

‘In fact IPCC did not even use the updated data the IPCC itself used elsewhere in its report.  

Why has the CCC not checked these errors?’ 

Mathematician Nic Lewis has noted that if the analysis were re-done dropping the 1860s, for which there are hardly any reliable temperature records, and using some recent IPCC estimates of the aerosol cooling effect, the ECS (Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity) best estimate fell even further, to 1.8 C. So the best estimate of ECS is below the level that the IPCC said it couldn’t possibly be. 

Economists in the US have shown, if ECS is down around 2° C the whole basis for imposing costly climate policy falls apart.  

Please refer to the research paper ''Climate sensitivity, agricultural productivity and the social cost of carbon in FUND'', by Dayaratna, McKitrick and Michaels, January 2020. 

Further, it has been reported that the Institute of Physics, that publishes scientific journals, retracted 500 papers in September 2022 because of ‘’suspicious and unethical activities’’. The Institute of Physics also retracted some 350 papers in February 2022.  

This suggests that the reports from the IPCC need to be checked with care. 

What checks have been completed by MfE and qualified economists, before giving advice to the CCC or Government? 

10A 

What is the factual and economical based evidence to support the proposed ‘farm-level-split-gas levy’ proposed in this statement from the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership ? 

“The Waka Eke Noa is recommending the Government introduce a farm-level split-gas levy on agricultural emissions with built-in incentives to reduce emissions and sequester carbon.” 

11A. 

With reference to the paper by Coe et al.  

To quote Clause 5.2 from this paper; 

‘’5.2. Effect of Recently Increased Atmospheric CO2  

It is of some interest to calculate the increase in temperature that has occurred due to the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels from the 280ppm prior at the start of the industrial revolution to the current 420ppm registered at the Mona Loa Observatory. (K. W. Thoning et. al. 2019) [17].  

The HITRAN calculations show that atmospheric absorptivity has increased from 0.727 to 0.730 due to the increase of 140ppm CO2, resulting in a temperature increase of 0.24Kelvin.  

This is, therefore, the full extent of anthropogenic global warming to date.’’ 

Please confirm that the CCC and MfE have, or will consider the Coe et al. paper and check your evidence as to the effects of methane and nitrous oxide on atmospheric infra-red absorption. 

What are the effects of methane and nitrous oxide on atmospheric infra-red absorption?