Under the spotlight this week is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #13 – Climate Action. It is clear that this goal has three key priorities of mitigation, resilience and adaptation, which is really important for us in a farming context as well. We take a look at why these three pillars are important, what is unique about New Zealand’s emissions profile, and highlight case studies of how farmers are reducing emissions on farm.
What is SDG #13 about?
Sustainable Development Goal #13 seeks to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
The targets under this goal are focused on:
- Strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries,
- Integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning,
- Improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
SDG #13 is important for reducing the extent of climate change, but also for reducing its impacts. Mitigation is crucial, as well as adaptation and reducing the impact of effects on people and the environment. By focusing on climate action through mitigation and adaptation, we are able to ensure that we are doing all we can to reduce the environmental and social impacts of climate change.
Working towards SDG #13 is therefore really important for other Sustainable Development Goals, both to reduce the extent of climate change but also to reduces its impacts on people and the planet. Goals, such as the following, have strong relationships with SDG #13 through the impacts of climate change, as well as being goals that can support action towards SDG #13 and its targets:
- #1 – No Poverty
- #2 – Zero Hunger
- #6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
- #7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
- #12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
- #14 – Life Below Water
- #15 – Life on Land
Why is SDG #13 important for agriculture?
SDG #13 has importance for agriculture in New Zealand for many reasons to do with people, planet and profit. As a trading nation that is built on the primary industries, we are dependent on our reputation as global citizens who act with responsibility to play our role in global action towards climate change and its impacts. Social licence, the ability to trade, authentic origin stories, and branding and storytelling are only some of the reasons that SDG #13 is important for agriculture. However, we mustn’t forget that at the centre of everything, SDG #13 is important for agriculture for the way in which climate is currently impacting the way in which we farm, the ability for us to sustain our businesses into the future, and how climate change threatens to disrupt our way of life and business in the short- and long-term.
If we break SDG #13 down further there are three core themes that are of relevance to agriculture:
1.) Mitigation
Mitigation is all about reducing our impact and aiming to reduce the extent of climate change. For agriculture, the focus of mitigation is on emissions reductions as this is where we can have a direct impact on how agriculture contributes to climate change. Despite New Zealand being a small nation, we still have a global responsibility to be focused on mitigation, both for ourselves and for the greater good. We mustn’t see ourselves as solely New Zealanders but as part of a global community and human race that is impacted by climate change. Climate change and its impacts doesn’t respect borders or states, therefore it is something that is of importance and responsibility of everyone.
2.) Resilience
Resilience can be defined as the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties. A changing climate brings with it challenges that we must face. Farmers are not immune to these challenges, and arguably are further impacted by these challenges due to the impact of adverse weather events and changing climate patterns on the farming operating environment. Building resilience into our farming systems and farming businesses is therefore of great importance for agriculture to be able to continue to operate into the future despite the challenges that we will face as a result of climate change.
3.) Adaptation
The ability to adapt and adjust to changes is also of great importance for agriculture, but it is important to ensure that we are working to both mitigate and adapt. Adaptation alone is not enough to create a resilient future but it is an important tool to be able to continue to operate despite the challenges and conditions that we have to face now and into the future. This may look like adapting our farming systems to changing seasonal conditions, or making changes that allow us to respond better to adverse events and changes to the conditions in which our farming businesses operate.
New Zealand's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile
New Zealand has a unique greenhouse gas emissions profile compared to other developed countries. The Ministry for the Environment (2025) state that this is due to two reasons:
1.) We have a small energy sector which produces approximately 40% of gross emissions (total emissions) due to a large proportion of renewable energy production.
2.) We have a large agricultural sector which generates more than half of New Zealand’s gross emissions due to the significant role of the primary industries for New Zealand’s economy.
In 2023 agriculture accounted for 53.1% of New Zealand’s gross emissions (MfE, 2025). Of these agricultural emissions, 78% were methane emissions from ruminant animals that produce methane as a by-product of their digestive process (MfE, 2025). This meant that methane accounted for 41.4% of New Zealands gross emissions. This was followed by nitrous oxide which accounted for 8.3% New Zealands gross emissions.
How are farmers approaching Mitigation?
There are many ways that farmers are currently working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions on their farms. Further chasing efficiencies and implementing best practice is something that many farmers are continuing to pursue now, rather than waiting for what may or may not come in the future. The Ag Matters website provides a great insight into what farmers are doing with case studies. We have highlighted a few below, but all case studies can be found here. Each case study has a corresponding video as well as details into the numbers surrounding greenhouse gas emissions on farm.
Resources
There are many great industry resources that farmers can access to learn more about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as how to build greater resilience to climate change and adverse weather.
Ag Matters draws together latest scientific knowledge, background information, resources and case studies to help New Zealand’s primary producers and rural professionals understand what they can do to help reduce on-farm emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve other environmental goals.
This website has a wealth of information from videos explaining the science behind greenhouse gas emissions, information on ways that farmers can reduce emissions now and what is to come in the future, as well as lots of valuable case studies of how farmers are currently working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions on their farms. Watching the videos and reading the information for different case studies is highly valuable and a great way for farmers to access information on what others are doing in the industry to keep working towards reducing emissions on farm while also continuing to chase profitability and sustainable businesses.
Tactics: Reducing Your Environmental Footprint
This factsheet by Dairy NZ highlights nine tactics that farmers can use to reduce GHG emissions, address freshwater and/or support biodiversity. This resource provides valuable key messages for each tactic and great links to further Dairy NZ resources that can help farmers to learn more about these tactics and how they can be applied in their farming systems.
Responding to a changing climate
One of the Beef and Lamb NZ farm planning modules is focused on responding to a changing climate. This resource guides farmers through a wealth of information regarding how this applies on farm and how they can go about climate-related farm planning. Templates for this resource can also be found here.
Adapting to a changing climate
As mentioned above, being able to create resilient farm systems and businesses through adaptation is really important to be able to deal with the challenges that changing climate brings. This resource by Beef and Lamb NZ provides information on what changes to weather patterns we might see in the future, what the climate change may mean for New Zealand farms, and how farmers can go about building a resilient farm system.