Climate & the Environment
Last Updated:
February 2025
Position statement
Sheep Producers Australia (SPA) recognize the opportunity to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable practices that do not detrimentally impact their production system’s viability or profitability. Here in SPA, we are working across the red meat industry, with Meat Livestock Australia and researchers in Universities, CSIRO and cooperative research centres to better understand and communicate the science behind global warming to our producers. SPA is taking every opportunity to build knowledge and capacity in our industry about applying better practices and demonstrating their sustainability credentials and effective natural resource management.
For example, SPA supports a common approach to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) accounting across agricultural sectors. Increasingly, producers and industry are being asked by governments and markets to report on their impacts on climate and nature. Evidence-based reporting is essential to enhance consistency, transparency and confidence in understanding our sector’s contribution to a changing climate and effective natural resource management.
What's the issue?
There are multiple perspectives relevant to climate and the environment for sheep producers. For Australia’s domestic and international markets, climate credentials are an increasingly important consideration in positioning Australia as a sustainable livestock producer.
Across Australia climate change and accompanying severe weather events including drought are impacting the overall resilience of conventional farming systems and the natural landscapes they depend on. While individual producers struggle with the ramifications of climate change on their properties and production systems, industry as a whole is seeking a clear voice on the underlying science and capacity building to enable them to take viable responses.
Realistic emission reduction targets play a pivotal role in informing future policies, regulations, investment schedules, research and development programs, and incentive initiatives. Advocating for reductions in biogenic methane beyond what can be achieved through new technologies and farm management practices poses a risk to both the Australian sheep industry and global food production. Setting fair and scientifically sound targets that facilitate emissions reduction without significantly escalating production costs is essential for both our industry and broader food production.
SPA policy principles
Recognising a substantial knowledge and solutions gap from producers through to policy makers, the principles below consider agriculture's role in emissions reduction. They will evolve with scientific, policy, and community developments.
1. The Australian sheep industry recognises its responsibility to address climate change in the sector.
2. The Australian sheep meat industry is an important part of Australia’s rural economies and is comprised of highly diverse production systems, necessitating rigorous ground truthing of policy design and efficacy to safeguard the industry, rural economies and communities.
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3. To align with the Paris Agreement, methane emissions do not need to be reduced to zero; therefore, future emission reduction targets related to the sheep industry need to reflect a different emission reduction pathway, and a non-zero methane end-point at 2050.
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4. A formalised consultation mechanism must be established between industry and government to co-design a clearly defined, efficient and least cost pathway for emissions reduction for the sector which will allow producers to practically adjust their farming systems within realistic timeframes and minimise the risk of disrupting vulnerable rural communities.
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5. Adjusting sheep production businesses to reduce emissions requires substantial investment to:
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Support producers with a suite of education, tools and access to consistent methodologies that allow them to determine their emissions profile and meet reporting requirements for carbon incentive programs easily and consistently.
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Utilize a common approach for GHG accounting across agricultural sectors to enhance consistency, transparency and confidence in sector-level GHG reporting.
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Share evidence on technological breakthroughs with realistic timeframes for development, commercialisation and adoption.
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Provide suitable incentives to support emission reductions practices while maintaining business sustainability.
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6. Government must play a role in providing confidence to this growing market through an accessible verification or quality assurance process.
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7. Agriculture requires a suite of Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme methods that better manage landholder requirements to increase carbon removals while maintaining productive grazing enterprises. Clarification of the business carbon liabilities and opportunities for ‘insetting’ are essential to ensure sheep producers do not sell carbon assets they may require in the future for market access, or access to finance
SPA's role
1. SPA proactively influences a policy framework to enable the sheep industry to provide evidence-based positions on relevant ‘climate smart’ issues by working closely with the Net Zero in Agriculture CRC. Meat and Livestock Australia and other livestock peak bodies.
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2. SPA works with relevant stakeholders to guide the development and uptake of robust processes to recognise, model and account for emissions and soil carbon and vegetation cover on farm.
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3. Targeted R & D provides evidence for articulating SPA’ s priority ‘climate smart issues, including climate smart sheep, improved industry reporting and disclosure and preferred procedures for insetting, where property managersdemonstrate their carbon management without market transactions.
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4. SPA has available clear communication messages on our industry’s climate credentials, recognising ourresponsible stewardship in the overall narrative for red meat or broader sustainable Agriculture land management.