MLA’s carbon neutral plan waits on CSIRO report to move forward

TWO months on from Meat and Livestock Australia’s big carbon neutral announcement, and there is still no sign of the science behind it.

TWO months on from Meat and Livestock Australia’s big carbon neutral announcement, and there is still no sign of the science behind it.

In November at its annual general meeting in Alice Springs, MLA boss Richard Norton announced a plan for a carbon neutral red meat industry by 2030.

He also told industry MLA had commissioned the CSIRO to find out how both aspects — production and processing — of the red-meat industry could achieve this, with the report to be released in December.

The report is yet to be seen.

Both MLA and CSIRO have said those responsible for the report were overseas, and there would be an update when the it was ready for publication.

In November, CSIRO said its Global Food and Nutrition Security group, funded by MLA, had spent 12 months identifying ways the industry could become carbon neutral.

CSIRO said in a statement the project had established industry greenhouse gas emissions on the assumption of a national herd of 28 million cattle, 70 million sheep and half a million goats (10-year averages) before exploring options to cut emissions from livestock and land use.

It determined the research, development and adoption needed to achieve the target, along with financial returns in productivity gains and potential carbon credits.