News Brief by Kip Hansen – 12 April 2022
According to Marc Daalder reports at newsroom., a New Zealand based news website:
“New Zealand diplomats helped remove references to the need for “plant-based” diets from the latest IPCC report’s influential summary”.
“Coverage of the negotiations by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin – the only media outlet permitted to attend the event – makes clear that New Zealand argued against the use of the term “plant-based” in favour of “sustainable healthy diets” in at least two sections of the report’s summary.”
Daalder refers to this section of the approved SPM:
“Summary for Policymakers IPCC AR6 WG III C.9.1
“Demand-side and material substitution measures, such as shifting to balanced, sustainable healthy diets [See Footnote 62], reducing food loss and waste, and using bio-materials, can contribute 2.1 GtCO2-eq yr-1 reduction.”
FOOTNOTE 62: ‘Sustainable healthy diets’ promote all dimensions of individuals’ health and wellbeing; have low environmental pressure and impact; are accessible, affordable, safe and equitable; and are culturally acceptable, as described in FAO and WHO. The related concept of balanced diets refers to diets that feature plant-based foods, such as those based on coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and animal-sourced food produced in resilient, sustainable and low-GHG emission systems, as described in SRCCL.”
[SRCCL = Special Report Climate Change and Land (2019)]
The Kiwis did us a good turn with that. A demand that the world must shift to “plant-based” diets is nothing more than another attempt of the UN and IPCC to force society to make changes that UN bureaucrats and the Davos crowd demand – not changes for themselves, but only changes to be forced on every other common man and woman.
The most interesting thing about this report is that it shows how clearly the wording that appears in IPCC Summaries for Policy Makers are based on politics and not on any underlying science at all. The brave Kiwis, supported by India and Kenya, forced the IPCC to stick to science and call for “balanced, sustainable healthy diets”, which except for the vague but important quality of ‘balanced’ and the undefined amorphous quality ‘sustainable’, is at least firmly supported by medical science.
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Author’s Comment:
Next time you meet a New Zealander, a Kiwi, shake his hand and thank him . . .
Maybe they have delayed the nutty demand that “everyone must be vegan” nonsense from the IPCC.
Thanks for reading.
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Well, this article sure has given me a lot to chew on…
I like meat. I like fish. I like veggies. I like fruit. And I like a varied diet.
A varied but balanced diet is a very healthy diet.
As far as I’m concerned, case closed. Those who wish to follow vegan or other fad diets can knock themselves out. But don’t try and convert me to your specific brand of dietary religion/cult.
I’m on a cake-based diet, being a caketarian. All kinds of cake, too, like Baked Alaska, which sounds impossible, but it works because of the meringue on the outside, which insulates it. Crazy, I know. My favorite person in history is Marie Antoinette. She really had the right idea. Pie is good too, in a pinch. Especially on Pie Day.
I am impressed at how Kip can contradict himself in two consecutive sentences and not seem to notice. Look at:
“The most interesting thing about this report is that it shows how clearly the wording that appears in IPCC Summaries for Policy Makers are based on politics and not on any underlying science at all. The brave Kiwis, supported by India and Kenya, forced the IPCC to stick to science”
So which is it is? Is the IPCC summary based on politics or science?
Furthermore do you not think that NZ might have objected to the phrase “plant based” because of the fact that a substantial proportion of its income comes from its dairy industry? It is clearly playing politics with the report as much as the amorphous “ Davos crowd” are.
Also it should be clear that “plant-based” does not mean vegan. It just means that most of someone’s calories should come from plants and meat should be eaten sparingly. And again all of the evidence shows that such a diet is healthier than one that is high in meat.
“ It just means that most of someone’s calories should come from plants and meat should be eaten sparingly. ”
Lol…should indeed.
Izzak ==> Welcome back — haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s the fishing?
There must be a disconnect between NZ IPCC negotiators and this Davos orientated Govt we are saddled with. Their intention is to reduce our livestock herds by legislation ‘to save the planet’
…and, apparently, to return us to an earlier age when you were either the victors or the vanquished. With both sides engaged in a celebratory feast but in distinctly different roles!
The IPCC has outlived it’s usefulness and so has the United Nations for that matter. Time to dismantle them.
May I, a Kiwi naturalised from London 60 years ago, accept the congratulations on behalf of many other New Zealand readers of this fine website. I have no knowledge of who might have suggested this modification of the IPCC nonsense, but I congratulate them. That may have been a the result of involvement in the meat industry, or more likely the result of some indisputable common sense which most here exhibit. A very few, less so!
Mike ==> You may accept!
When I was in the merchant marine, I worked with many Aussies and Kiwis.
The Kiwis were very common sense when not being entirely insane.
As a kiwi I am happy to accept any congratulations that come our way. On behalf of our countrymen.
But don’t think the New Zealand government is any less nutty than the rest of the western progressive liberal democracies.
We are masters of virtue signalling and pretending to do our bit to undermine our economies while propping up the green sham. Our lefty government has committed our largest industry, dairy farming, to a up to 47% reduction in methane emissions (read cow numbers reductions) by 2050. Also we have cancelled oil and gas exploration offshore and closed local coal mining while at the same time importing record amounts of coal from Indonesia to keep our electric cars running.
Well said John.
Someone in the New Zealand contingent stood up for common sense at the conference .
Our government is quite a mess with a toxic mixture of Labour supported by the nutty greens and pandering to the demands of the Maori Party .
New Zealands carbon emissions from fossil fuel are very low but 50% of our emissions are calculated to come from agriculture . METHANE
The biggest scam ever .
When over 80% of our agricultural production is exported to other countries how does New Zealand get lumbered with all those so called emissions ?
Does the oil and gas producing countries account for all their exports ?
Of course they don’t
Graham ==> “Someone in the New Zealand contingent stood up for common sense at the conference” And thanks to them for the common sense….
“Labour supported by the nutty greens and pandering to the demands of the Maori Party.”
What are you talking about? The Greens and the Maori party are not part of the current government. The Greens are contiually moaning that Labour are not doing enough. Seriously, you need to keep up.
Simple Simon back with your inane one liners .
Of course the Greens are always trying to destroy the New Zealand economy .
Fortunately there are one or two Ministers in government that have been in business and have some brains .
One example was the carbon forestry farming fiasco thought up by James Shaw and his dumber than dumb mates that is the tail that wags the dog.
They wanted to buy up good farmland and plant it in pine trees that would never be harvested .The theory was that our native trees would gradually take over .
I have written about this before and I have said it is a loony idea and would lead to wild fires in the future and would close down whole rural communities as there is no work once the trees are planted .
A great way to bankrupt a country reducing exports and many jobs .
I was pleased to hear Stuart Nash a government Minister speaking on radio on the Country Session program .
He had worked for New Zealand Forest Products so he knew what he was talking about .
He said ‘carbon farming will be a disaster as the pine trees blow over and die and they will burn ”
I am pleased to see that there is at least one minister with brains in government
James Shaw is the climate change minister and leader of the Greens .
But not in government ? Who is conning you?
Haha, you may be a kiwi but you are clueless about the way government works here. People jump into bed with whoever, whenever it suits them. Let me highlight how rediculous and out of touch your comment was. The Maori party have not been in coalition with anyone lately, except …. wait for it…. National in 2011. Oh dear that makes you look silly doesn’t it?
And to further ruin your day the next (odds on) prime minister Christopher Luxon has this week just announces that he is concerned about climate change and is committed to honouring all NZ’s commitments in this area. Owch….
Russia colluuuusion 😉
I was raised vegan in the 1950’s and 1960’s. My Mom was Hindu. I was kicked out of the house at 17 after I hunted squirrels and ate them. I managed a Vegetarian Restaurant in Richmond Virginia for a couple of years and know how to cook vegan. The restaurant was full of religio-vegans. I never liked Hinduism and converted to Christianity at age 35 and have been eating meat since I was a child when I could sneak it, but I have never eaten a lot of meat simply because there are so many other things I like to eat in addition to meat. I do love leg of Lamb at Easter.
VEGAN Means: nothing animal based…. no leather, no animal oils or fats, no eggs, no fish, no anything even bugs. Vegan is totally non-animal. Think fabric shoes and belts and scrutinizing everything you eat or put on your body to see if there is anything animal in it. Veganism is a religious/ethical stance. Veganism is not about self improvement and health Vegans are not necessarily healthy… they get heart disease and diabetes and die of old age like anyone else. My Mom was vegan and had diabetes and died because of diabetes.
/pulls up soapbox You can make a case that eating properly raised meat, like grass fed pasture raised beef, and omega 3 enhanced chicken, pork, & lamb, & eggs from pasture raised chicken, as part of your diet is far healthier than a vegetarian or vegan diet. It’s arguably better for the environment (if you accept that concept) as you do not have to plow up the ground or run tractors all over the pastures to grow pasture raised beef. Vegetarians have a vey hard time getting some of the essential fats that meat, especially Beef, provides, like CLA. The iron in animal blood/flesh is far more absorbable than the iron in plants so you have to eat a lot of beans to get the equivalent amount of iron. Pasture raised beef is superior nutritionally to the mass produced, grain fed version primarily because of the Omega 6 – Omega 3 ratio. A Hopkins study a few years ago pointed out that any concentration of O6-O3 higher than 4-1 was associated with an increase in heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and other debilitating diseases. Most grains have a very high O6-O3 ratio, corn has a 20-1 ratio, and, as a result so does grain fed beef. Grass fed also has a higher concentration of Stearic acid, a saturated fat that is actually good for you as it reduces LDL (grain fed & plants have a very low Stearic acid concentration). Why did big Agra switch to grain fed vs pasture raised? Several reasons, among them less land use and grain fed beef matures to market in 3 years vs 5 years for pasture raised. I swtiched to eating only grass fed, pasture raised beef about 5 years ago, I’m now 71 and my blood pressure is excellent (120/65), my glucose is around 70, LDL cholesterol is below 90, and I have no heart arterial issues. Grass fed is not the sole source of my good health, and I eat a lot of vegetables (but I restrict my veggies to low O6-O3 ratio, like Broccoli, Spinach, Bell Peppers, etc). Prior to switching to grass fed beef, my BP was much higher, LDL cholesterol was close to 150. I’m not religious about this and everyone is entitled to eat the diet of their choice, I’m just offering my experience. /gets off soapbox
I totally agree. I eat less meat so i can afford to eat free range grass fed meat. I am not a vegan but I was raised a vegan so I know what it is. I am a big advocate of filling the marginal lands with meat producing animals because there is a huge demand and prices are way too high. I am also well aware of the importance of the meat based lipids and nutrition. I think my Mom’s metabolic issues were in part due to her religiously strict veganism.
New Conventional Wisdom: do the radical opposite of what IPCC recommends and you will make out like a bandit.
Raise animals for meat, mine your own coal and natural gas LOL In the Fingerlakes region in NY some of the farms had their own natural gas wells..
It’s time for families, and local communities to fill up the local marginal lands with goats, sheep, chickens, alpaca, large meat rabbits, hogs, and cattle to export at top dollar the worlds best free range grass fed meats. There is enough marginal lands to raise animals in the US glut the world with meat. Those lands used to be pastured by local hard working families before McMansionvilles, malls TV and consumerism took over and hard work was relegated to immigrants or machines. Just think …no payroll FICA, no IPCC, no supply chain crapola, no colluded commodities prices, no pandemic, no supermarket…. just a river of Primo meat in local economies. People don’t eat money, they eat meat. It hardly costs a dime to raise meat on marginal land. The kids next door raised 30 goats from goats that were given to them without a vet or meds, built the shelter from scrap wood, milked them, butchered them, cooked them and ate them…. grass is the best solar power in the world.
My Grandfather in Iowa raised 500 head of cattle for market every year in the early mid-20th century.. He bred and raised them himself and grew all the corn, grain and hay they ate without any machines or electricity… only Him, his hired man and two sons and at team of 6 German Grey Horses which he also bred. He made more money selling 5-6 work horses a year than with 500 head of beef…because America was glutted with awesome well marbled top grade beef that hardly exists anymore unless you buy it form local farmer.
Now all we have is a glut of folk who are addicted to devices and have no idea what it means to work.,,,, smartphone serfs ask questions should I be a vegan….. I can’t afford meat?
Talk about hard work making your own tofu that might be worth it. 1 lbs of soy beans makes about 1,5 lbs. of tofu, a pound of tofu has 37 grams of protein, at 50 bag of soybeans is about $18 which would makes 75 lbs of tofu x 37 grams of protein. This is enough protein to sustain an adult 55 days for $18 and a gas burner going for about 20 hours.
There is a whole new breed of pseudo vegies/vegans, who like to eat ”pretend meat” This is clearly the result of very clever commercial manipulation of the gullible, virtue signalers.
I know some Vegans, who, in fairness, live very healthy and true to their convictions of ”no meat” The idea of going into a McDs to buy a ”Vegetarian burger” is completely against their principles.
Wow. It’s the first time I’ve felt good about being a New Zealander in a long time.
David ==> Glad to be of assistance.
Simple test. Look at the number of elderly. Ask them about diet, exercise, work, etc. I am a retired doctor. In 40 years, I never met an elderly Vegan, buff fit or other. Ever.
They all ate a balenced diet, meat, veg, fruit, carbohydrates including sweats, a small amount of alcohol. And almost all were mildly overweight, except in the last few years.
I started asking after an article in the AFP journal.
Fruits (less so) and vegetables (more so) have natural pesticides and other repellant chemicals that are designed to prevent the “wrong” things from eating them. Classic example is capsaicin, the “hot” in hot peppers. It’s to the pepper plant’s advantage for the majority of its fruit to be eaten by birds, who are not effected by the capsaicin. They spread the seeds through defecation over a wider area.
Potatoes and other nightshades contain lectins in the skins and flesh that poison insects and other underground pests. They can also irritate the systems of larger creatures if eaten green and/or to excess. Other varieties have their own little drug labs of nasty stuff waiting for you and your stomach.
There was an element of self-interest in this since much of New Zealand’s agricultural production is free range grazing by cattle and sheep on land that cannot be used for anything else, except growing trees perhaps. Take it from me, snow tussock ain’t much good as food for people!
There does seem to be an assumption that all meat animals are grain-fed, and rangeland grazing appears to be a foreign concept.
For those who don’t know, the returns are far better growing crops than grazing livestock.
Having said that, there are still quite a few people who prefer to retain something close to the native flora by grazing at moderate stocking rates rather than ploughing up the grasslands to grow crops. They are then demonised for the methane emissions.
Having observed several vegans & vegetarians first hand … they are very flatulent!
Greenhouse gas bags if you will.
Kiwis may not have been entirely altruistic in thier motives. Turns out NZ grows grass better than nearly any other place on Earth. Now, you an I cannot eat grass, and trying to be a profitable exporter of grains on a scale as small as NZ is neigh impossible, but there is one easy way to work up grass into a profitable export. Turns out tasty animals love to eat grass.
Brian ==> True — but the representatives NZ may have just had the guts to say NO! to the utter nonsense of the UN declaring that we must all shift to a plant-based diet (although I understand that we will be allowed to eat insects….)
Appropo of turning grass/inedibles into food, USA, if we had sense, would propose more meat as a climate mitigation stategy. Lots of land in the USA is marginal for foods crops and is used badly/inefficiently. Convincing USA to ranch more sheep and goats on our marginal lands would be a far better use of territory than fertilizing and watering the crud out of a bunch of clay to grow corn.
Brain ==> They turn cruddy land into corn fields to feed ethanol plants to turn food into fuel.
No. I EAT vegans. But I am not a cannibal.