On Friday evening 350 Aotearoa projected messages to call for stronger climate action from New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter Fonterra, onto the facade of Fonterra’s office building of the NTT Tower on Lambton Quay. 

Alva Feldmeier (Executive Director 350 Aotearoa) said “Our biggest climate polluters need to be held accountable and pay for their contribution to the climate crisis. Fonterra is putting profits before people and the planet by continuing to increase dairy herds, burning coal and gas, and increasing emissions.”

The light projection action was held on Earth Day, a global annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Feldmeier added, “We cannot protect the environment if mega polluters like Fonterra are not held accountable by our government and forced to reduce their emissions. That is why we have chosen to project our messages of resistance on Fonterra’s office!” 

night time projection that reads Fonterra New Zealands biggest climate polluters and has a chart shoowing that Fonterra makes up a quarter of all emissions

“Through the industrial allocation scheme, our public money is used to subsidise Fonterra’s pollution with $1.9 billion worth of carbon credits every year. $1.9 billion could replace all existing coal, oil, and gas boilers in schools, hospitals, and the wider state sector. The government seems to have forgotten their climate emergency declaration and commitment to a carbon-neutral government and state sector by 2025. Or was it just hot air?”, asks Feldmeier. Earlier on Friday, 350 Aotearoa handed in their petition signed by 19 000 concerned New Zealanders calling for a ban on new fossil fuel boilers in the state sector which has been part of a campaign to make the State Sector Fossil Free. 

Mike Smith, chairman of the Climate Change Iwi Leaders Group, who supported the action stated “The iwi chairs group is calling on the government to bring agriculture into the ETS. It’s time to act”

night time projections on building with the quote from Mike Smith + photo of him yelling into a microphone

350 Aotearoa projected messages such as “In the next decade, Fonterra will make up more than 100% of NZ’s total emission target” onto the wall of Fonterra’s office, raising awareness of the scale of the problem.

Greenpeace Aotearoa lead agriculture campaigner Christine Rose says “Intensive dairy is New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter, and climate criminals like Fonterra, Ravensdown & Ballance are putting our collective futures at risk. We need to halve the bloated dairy herd and phase out the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser that enables it”

Media contacts:

Alva Feldmeier – 022 4378715
Executive Director 350 Aotearoa


Adam Currie – 0220209503
Greenpeace Communications – climate

ENDS

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