Frameworks and Funding, Not Slogans, Will Shape Our Future
[As published in the Stock Journal]
Last week the federal government accepted the Climate Change Authority’s advice to set a new 2035 emissions target, a 62% to 70% cut on 2005 levels. That is a huge lift from the current 43% by 2030 target and means halving Australia’s current emissions in the next decade.
At the same time, the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan was released, one of six sectoral decarbonisation plans under the Net Zero framework. It outlines how farming is expected to contribute: reducing methane and nitrous oxide, boosting sequestration, and rapidly scaling up climate-smart practices.
Both reports are ambitious and confirm Canberra’s desire to accelerate the pace of change.
As the major custodian of agricultural land and accounting for over 80% of agricultural emissions, the livestock industry inevitably comes under the spotlight whenever new targets are announced.
Our industry has never stepped back from the challenge. In 2017 we set the bold CN30 goal, aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030. At the time it was visionary and served its purpose in showing ambition. But as our understanding of livestock emissions has matured, it became clear CN30 was not achievable – even though we had already reduced emissions by 78% from 2005 levels. The technologies were not ready, and the level of government support required never materialised.
What has changed is the industry’s focus. The investment of millions in producer levies is now being directed to where progress is credible and measurable: cutting emissions intensity per kilogram of production. This means demonstrating efficiency gains, better genetics, improved grazing, feed additives, and new technologies that allow us to produce more with less. It is practical, science-based, and aligned with what markets want to see — continuous improvement rather than an impossible promise. But the scrutiny will only intensify.
The electricity, energy and transport sectors, where abatement is easier and heavily subsidised, will reduce their share of national emissions. That leaves agriculture looking relatively larger.
Nationally, agriculture is about 20% of emissions. In South Australia, we are already at 37%, just behind transport at 39%, because our state leads the country on renewable energy. This is where bigger-picture thinking is essential.
Food security is not just an agricultural issue; it is strategic national resilience. It must be embedded into every other policy objective. Narrow carbon accounting risks undermining the industries that feed Australians, sustain regional communities, and generate billions in export earnings.
Targets are only as strong as the frameworks and funding that underpin them. That is the real lesson from CN30: ambition is easy, delivery takes investment, time and the right policy settings.
Our task now is to ensure governments back the plans that are already delivering. In South Australia, that means the SA Red Meat and Wool Blueprint 2030 – a practical, industry-led roadmap balancing productivity, resilience, sustainability and growth.
Because in the end, it is not the targets that put food on tables and exports on ships – it is the frameworks and funding that give producers the tools to keep doing what they do best.
By Travis Tobin