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RNZ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
World plastic pollution treaty talks collapse with no deal
By Robin Millard , AFP Photo: RNZ Pacific / Sally Round Talks aimed at striking a landmark global treaty on plastic pollution fell apart Friday without agreement, as countries failed to find consensus on how the world should tackle the ever-growing scourge. Negotiators from 185 nations worked beyond Thursday's deadline and through the night in an ultimately futile search for common ground between nations wanting bold action such as curbing plastic production, and oil-producing states preferring to focus more narrowly on waste management. Several countries voiced bitter disappointment as the talks unravelled, but said they were prepared for future negotiations - despite six rounds of talks over three years now having failed to find agreement. "We have missed a historic opportunity but we have to keep going and act urgently. The planet and present and future generations need this treaty," said Cuba. Colombia added: "The negotiations were consistently blocked by a small number of states who simply don't want an agreement." Tuvalu, speaking for 14 Pacific small island developing states, said they were once again leaving empty-handed. "For our islands this means that without global cooperation and state action, millions of tonnes of plastic waste will continue to be dumped in our oceans, affecting our ecosystem, food security, livelihood and culture," the Polynesian archipelago said. The High Ambition Coalition, which includes the European Union, Britain and Canada, and many African and Latin American countries, wanted to see language on reducing plastic production and the phasing out of toxic chemicals used in plastics. A cluster of mostly oil-producing states calling themselves the Like-Minded Group - including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Iran, and Malaysia - want the treaty to have a much narrower remit. "Our views were not reflected... without an agreed scope, this process cannot remain on the right track and risks sliding down a slippery slope," said Kuwait. Bahrain said it wanted a treaty that "does not penalise developing countries for exploiting their own resources". France's Ecological Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said: "I am disappointed, and I am angry," saying a handful of countries, "guided by short-term financial interests", had blocked the adoption of an ambitious treaty. "Oil-producing countries and their allies have chosen to look the other way." The future of the negotiations was not immediately clear. Some countries called for a seventh round of talks in future, with the EU saying the latest draft was a "good basis for a resumed session", and South Africa insisting: "It cannot end here." The talks in Geneva - called after the collapse of the fifth and supposedly final round of talks in South Korea late last year - opened on 5 August. With countries far apart, talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso produced a draft text Wednesday based on the limited areas of convergence. But it was immediately shredded by all sides, plunging the talks into disarray, with the high ambition group finding it shorn of all impact, and the Like-Minded Group saying it crossed their red lines and lacked scope. Vayas spend Thursday in a frantic round of negotiations with regional groups, and produced a new version after midnight. Lead negotiators then held a meeting behind closed doors to thrash out whether there was enough in the text to keep talking. But shortly before sunrise, the game was up. More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items. While 15 percent of plastic waste is collected for recycling, only nine percent is actually recycled. Nearly half, or 46 percent, ends up in landfills, while 17 percent is incinerated and 22 percent is mismanaged and becomes litter. The plastic pollution problem is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks, in the deepest ocean trench and scattered throughout almost every part of the human body. On current trends, annual production of fossil-fuel-based plastics will nearly triple by 2060 to 1.2 billion tonnes, while waste will exceed one billion tonnes, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. - AFP
NZ Herald
03-08-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Kāpiti Coast roadside raw milk sales boom at Faith Farm Fresh's red shed
Keeping the milk flowing here is all in a day's work for dairy farmer Stacey Faith, who, with her husband Andrew and farm workers, milks 360 cows at their farm between Ōtaki and Waikanae. 'You know, it's all about being local and fresh,' one of the Faiths' regulars said, topping up a glass bottle with milk from the dispenser. She was used to unpasteurised milk as a child, brought home in a bucket straight from the udder. Most of the Faith's milk goes to Fonterra, but 20 of the Friesians form the 'raw herd', producing only A2 milk, and milked separately to supply the roadside shop with unpasteurised milk - also known as raw milk. 'We had no clue when we opened well over five, nearly five and a half years ago now,' Stacey Faith said. 'I mean, we sat down with the bank, and they said, 'Oh, well, how much would you like to sell a day?' and we thought 100 litres would be good. And we average now 300 litres a day.' In New Zealand, milk bought in shops must be pasteurised. Consumers are also allowed to buy raw milk, but producers must be registered, meet hygiene requirements, test milk for pathogens, keep records of sales and make sure consumers are aware of the risks of consuming raw milk. Faith said many of her customers have told her raw milk helps their ailments. Stacey Faith of Faith Farm Fresh. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round 'A lot of our customers come here because they're diabetic, they have psoriasis, they have skin conditions. 'I'm a dairy farmer. I'm not a doctor. 'This is what our customers tell us, it's better for their health.' A customer collects a week's worth of milk from Faith Farm Fresh Photo / RNZ, Sally Round The demand has surprised them. On the odd occasion, she said they've even had to close their doors, 'because we had no milk until we milked the cows. And then it was just catch up that whole week, trying to get them back to milking three, four o'clock that afternoon.' The big 18-wheeler trucks used to stop before the new highway opened, Faith said. There is a strict cleaning regime for the raw milk herd. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round They would take bottles of the milk to Auckland, but that's stopped now that the little red shed is on a side road. 'We're allowed 30 hours to sell the milk, but we sell out sometimes before 24 hours.' With the special hygiene and testing regime required for raw milk, it's all a lot of extra work for the busy dairy farmers. One of them must always be available between 6am and 10pm every day of the year, in case there's a coin jam or one of the pumps stops working. 'So, you get a phone call, 'I've only got half a bottle of milk', you've got to come down and sort it out.'' The calves' feed is mixed and piped automatically to feeding stalls. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round The cows must be specially cleaned at milking time too, taking at least twice as long as the main herd, which supplies Fonterra. The milk from the main herd will be pasteurised - heated to a high temperature to kill bacteria - once it reaches the processing plant. 'As a place that sells raw milk, that's the only thing we don't have control of … people coming in and filling a dirty bottle. 'We do everything in our power to make it as clean as we can.' Calving a niche Stacey rears some 300-plus calves during the season. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round The need to keep the milk taps flowing year-round means calving is an extended season for the Faiths. On top of tending to the shed, testing and working as a swim coach, Faith will rear 300-plus calves this season, with the help of some automated feeding machines. Apart from the Friesians reared as replacements for the two herds, her meatier Hereford cross calves are sold to be grown on by lifestyle block owners nearby. While she takes it all in her stride, all the extra work the little red shed involves prompts the question: what's the point? 'I just love the idea that we're getting rid of plastic because we've got glass bottles … how it used to be back in the day. 'It's great to see so many people bringing the bottles back to refill.' She also likes supporting local suppliers and enterprises like the local MenzShed, where the bottle crates are made. 'It's all got to be good for the planet and sustainability, supporting all the local people.' - RNZ
NZ Herald
16-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- NZ Herald
Meet Hamish Sturgeon, the quail kid cracking the Coromandel egg market
'I have to feed them, water them, do all the food for them. 'So that's what I do.' The youngest of five siblings, Hamish has a three-tiered coop and a movable pen in his family's yard for his 29 birds. They are Japanese quails and come in several different earthy shades without the signature quirky head feathers of the Californian variety. 'If you're lucky enough, you could just hear the male crow. 'Hear that? It's quite cool.' Hamish exudes confidence with a wide smile and a firm handshake when he greets RNZ's Country Life at the gate to his Coromandel home overlooking the bay. His infectious enthusiasm and marketing skills no doubt win over a few shoppers. He sometimes takes the quails to the market to show them off and encourage people to buy the diminutive eggs, which he packages up in trays of a dozen. 'They have three times the protein of chicken eggs - delicious! 'They taste like chicken eggs, but a little bit more flavour - beautiful!' The packaged eggs ready for market. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round Hamish's 'store buddy', the much older Giovanni Vico, sells gluten-free bread alongside Hamish at the market, and they work in tandem to sell the bread and the eggs. 'Last week, we just scrambled some up and put them on the focaccia toast.' 'We are a mega team,' Giovanni said. 'It's fantastic, a young kid ... looking after animals, and at the same time making a little bit of money out of it. 'He's a little genius, my friend over there.' Hamish takes the eggs to market each Saturday, packaged up and displayed alongside his brightly illustrated sign. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round Hamish was introduced to keeping quails by his aunt nearly two years ago, and he has since soaked up the information needed on how to care for them, describing them as 'amazing creatures'. 'It just slowly came to me. I've got to learn about what I have. 'My auntie said ... they really like sand. 'So, I got some sand, and they really do like sand. They really do. 'They just go in the sand, and they just turn into little fluff balls, flicking sand everywhere.' The packaged eggs ready for market. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round He has learnt their laying rate coincides with the amount of sun they get. 'But then, slowly in the winter, they stop because there's not enough sunlight.' Only a couple of the birds have names, including 'Motherclucker' and 'Dobby'. Dobby nearly came to an unfortunate end with the family dog, but has since been nursed back to health by Hamish. Hamish takes Country Life on a tour of the little farm and puts a tray of sand in one of the cages as a dust bath. The quails enjoying a dust bath in their pen on the front lawn. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round Spotting a clutch of eggs, he quickly scoops them up. 'They just lay anywhere ... the females are bred to not care about their eggs or not be broody. Cool fact!' When the quails are laying, Hamish manages to take 10 to 11 dozen eggs to market each Saturday, packaged up and displayed alongside his brightly illustrated sign bearing the name 'Daily Quails Eggs est. 2024' and the tagline 'One small step for Hamish, one giant step for quails'. The eggs are delicious and protein-packed, Hamish says. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round He is saving the profits he makes after paying for the stall and other outgoings like feed. While Vico jokes about expanding into the hundreds of quails, Hamish is keen to keep the venture small and manageable, although he might add another three-tiered coop. 'Actually, having quails is quite fun. You've got to have responsibility to take care of them. And if you don't, they'll die. But if you do, you have a little bit of a reward.' Postscript: Hamish recently turned 13 and has been surprised to see the quails laying through the winter.
RNZ News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
RNZ centenary - rural broadcasting in the spotlight
Producer Sally Round, recording for Country Life. Photo: Elena Smith-Beech Informing, entertaining and connecting isolated farmers was a prime goal of the New Zealand Radio Broadcasting Company, which was officially incorporated in August 1925 and a forerunner to RNZ. As RNZ celebrates that centenary, Country Life dips back into the archives to bring you some of the well-loved voices and shows from the rural team through the decades. The stories include a laconic interview with Barry Crump about rabbiting, a hilarious spoof interview with a "macaroni farmer", and rural news scoops including the deliberate release of the RCV virus to control rabbit plagues in the South Island. Kevin Ikin, a former member of the rural news team. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson A gathering of the rurals team in the 1990s: (left to right) Susan Murray, Andrew Melville, Robyn Cubey, Kevin Ikin, Mark Torley, Jill Galloway, Sasha Hardy, Ian MacLean, Heugh Chappell and Jackie Bedford. Photo: David Knowles, left, Country Life's studio producer, with studio engineer Phil Benge, putting together Country Life. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
