Shaw is representing NZ at the conference that aims to adopt the decisions to ensure the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, signed by countries three years ago to keep global warming under 1.5C.
As the conference closed its first week focusing heavily on the arcane technical aspects of individual country obligations and processes, Shaw said the reason for taking a number of agricultural representatives was to improve awareness on both sides about the role agriculture plays in emissions.
“We want to raise this with other countries and start a conversation about emissions and food production.
“It has been something of a taboo subject up until last year, similar to what it was in NZ.”
The NZ contingent includes representatives from DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and AgResearch.
“We have to expose kiwi farmers and businesses to what is going on in the rest of the world now.
“One of the points of resistance is a sense in NZ we are the only country doing anything around agricultural emissions and imposing costs on our own sector.
“By bringing an agricultural group they do get exposed to what else is going on around the world.”
He also said the summit is not a venue where concessions are sought by countries or sectors.
The summit has United States, Kuwait, Russia and Saudi Arabia remaining ambivalent about the dire Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change report on global warming released in November, noting the report rather than welcoming it.
But Shaw said it remains a minority of countries pushing for a 2C temperature increase over a 1.5C increase.
“I think the IPCC report fundamentally shifted the discussion. Every forum I have been in people are talking about the 1.5C increase not 2C.”
He defended NZ’s prominence at the conference after Greenpeace accused this country of not being bold enough.
The environmental group said that contrasted with Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s bold action earlier in the year banning oil and gas exploration.
“I think we have been pretty vocal.
“They said we were quiet about the 1.5C but I have raised this at every forum I have been part of and it is part of our National Statement. It is kind of everywhere and I would not say that is the case.”
When questioned about methane measurement, a contentious issue between scientists in NZ, Shaw said it is very early days on the international front with people very focused on the longer-lived gases.
“And even that is only early days in some cases.
“Most countries are not paying attention to methane yet but they will have to and it could be a more hopeful conversation than people have anticipated. There are options to reduce greenhouse gases.”
He was heartened by the Berg report released in early December that indicated there are developing technologies that allow for reduced emissions while maintaining productivity.
Federated Farmers has highlighted research presented at COP highlighting how the global dairy sector has increased milk production 30% in 10 years to 2015, with only a 14% jump in cow numbers. The emissions intensity per kilogram of milk actually declined by 11% to 2.5kg of CO2.
Shaw described discussions at the front end of the summit as mind-bogglingly complex and ministers are working to try to distill the summit into two to three big questions to resolve.
One of them was proving to be financing emission reductions in developing nations.
“This is understandable. They have felt they have been let down by the developed world, which has not delivered on earlier promises and are anxious about being tied to a rule book on reductions without any assistance. It is not easy to solve.”
The other issue is transparency around reductions on a country-by-country basis.
