METHANE
SCIENCE ACCORD

The Case for the Current Science

What if everything you thought about METHANE was more hype than science?

We’ve been sold a story soaked in panic and slick marketing, where RUMINANT METHANE is the villain wielded to justify half-baked techno-fixes and corporate-profit-driven schemes.

Amid the clamour of alarmism a grassroots revolution is quietly pushing back - armed not with slogans, but science. Real solutions don’t come from gadgets, labs or urban boardrooms disconnected from soil and hoof. They come from the land, from pastures, from sustainable practices, and farming with a mind to cycles millennia older than any algorithm.

Grazing in a Field by 雨 空 liz99 - Unsplash

INSIDE OUR MISSION

Our mission is to fight for policies and regulations regarding METHANE that are rooted in the latest empirical science, fair to farmers and rural communities, food, being practical and sustainable for the whole economy.

WE ARE CALLING FOR ZERO TAX ON RUMINANT METHANE

  • Ruminant Methane Policy

    Policies tackling ruminant methane emissions must be rooted firmly in latest rigorous science—not outdated assumptions or corporate spin.
    Given that our understanding of methane’s impact on the atmosphere is continually evolving, it is crucial that recent scientific findings are acknowledged and integrated into policy making. Without that, we risk making decisions that harm the very earth we aim to protect.

  • UPDATE the Models

    We reject the GWP100 standard for measuring methane as obsolete and scientifically unsound, we endorse the IPCC’s AR6 Report, which elucidates that recent scientific findings indicate the warming potential of ruminant methane is overstated by 300 to 400%. More recently scientific results released by Happer and Wijngaarden; supported by Sheahen, Coe, May, Allison, Fabinski, Weigleb, Schildknecht et al, show conclusively that ruminant methane is too insignificant to have any measurable impact on global temperatures.

  • Cultivating Policy: Rooted in Science & Nature

    Recent scientific research indicates healthy soil, healthy grasslands, biodiversity and soil microbes play a significant role in healthy methane and carbon cycles, including natural methane oxidation and carbon sequestration. These can cycles can be enhanced by healthy farming practices, like Rotational Grazing - that mimic natural co-evolution of animals and plants.

  • Scientific Research in the Public Interest

    We advocate for a return to scientific research focused on understanding ecosystem dynamics and land management best practice, abandoning New Zealand’s scientific path dependance on reductive, politicised science and patent biotech. Our Methane + Climate policy can’t be about quick fixes or tech-bro gimmicks, we need a science that acknowledges nature’s complexity rather than forcing it into outdated, reductive, linear "‘solutions.’

METHANE

Methane isn’t just another buzzword: Methane isn’t just a gas: Methane is part of a complex cycle:

A story of life; a story of emissions and sinks, of atmosphere and sunlight, of soil and microbes, of trees, hedgerows and grasslands, of methanotrophs, manure, wetlands, of ruminants — tangled up in our climate’s hottest debates.

Join us, as we rethink methane — not as a problem to dodge, but as a natural force to understand and harness and ultimately harmonise with best farming practices and earth’s natural cycles. Because real change rides on knowledge bred in the soil, not spun in boardrooms.

OUR WORK

  • Science + Data

    The team from the Methane Science Accord break down the Science and report the Data

    Science→

  • In the Press

    Interviews with the team at the Methane Science Accord, (including podcasts)

    Interviews→

  • Articles

    Articles and Opinion pieces from the team at the Methane Science Accord

    Articles→

  • Videos

    Find short informative videos, breaking down the issues; (Podcast interviews are in the Press section)

    Videos→

  • Submissions

    Read a selection of submissions from the team at the Methane Science Accord

    Submissions→

  • Issues

    The team at the Methane Science Accord break down the issues, in depth

    Issues→

MSA is between:

Partner; Groundswell NZ
Partner; Farm - Facts on Ruminant Methane
Partner; '50 Shades of Green'
Partner; Rural Advocacy Network

Issue:

GENE TECHNOLOGY BILL

Background: In December 2024, the NZ Government proposed a fast track bill to radically alter New Zealand’s GE GMO Free status.

Why is the Methane Science Accord involved ?: Many of the proposed Gene Editing Technologies are being advocated to reduce METHANE, these are novel, untested technologies with unknown risks to animals, ecosystems, indigenous biodiversity and trade.

WANT ZERO TAX on RUMINANT METHANE?

WANT TO SUPPORT AOTEAROA’s GE FREE, PASTURAL FARMING?

ARTICLES

by the Methane Accord Team

Articles
Methane Science Accord
Cure worse than the Cause?
Methane Science Accord

“We are going down a dangerous and totally unnecessary road using bromoform”. MSA questions the promotion of methane-reducing products containing tribromomethane (bromoform) set to be unleashed on pastoral farming. Bromoform is ozone-depleting, classified as a volatile organic compound (VOC), and banned in USA from use in livestock destined for human consumption. In NZ, these products are restricted from use in breeding or dairy cattle. MSA has fears around food safety, animal welfare, and doubts that such intensive, expensive interference in the natural biogenic rumination process is either necessary or justified.

Read More →
Methane Science Accord
Neil Henderson, Dip of Sheep Farming
Methane Campaign is 100% Politics
Neil Henderson, Dip of Sheep Farming

We are endlessly told that livestock are responsible for half of New Zealand’s total emissions. Despite research showing the warming impact of livestock methane is so small it cannot be measured, the widespread perception remains that our livestock are dangerously warming the planet.

So where does this belief come from?

Read More →
Neil Henderson, Dip of Sheep Farming
Helen Mandeno, BSc
Emissions versus Warming
Helen Mandeno, BSc

.. This is why the ‘climate industrial complex’ likes to focus on ‘emissions’ instead of ‘warming’. During the past decade, millions of dollars has been spent researching and funding biotechnologies that can be sold to farmers to reduce their GHG emissions number, even though technically there will be no reduction in global warming temperatures whatsoever.

Read More →
Helen Mandeno, BSc
  • NZ Farmers Slam Methane Madness: 95% Reject Biotech Fix for Livestock
  • Will methane inhibitors harm our trusted brand, 89% NZ farmers think it will. With logos of Groundswell NZ, NZ Farming, and Methane Science Accord.
  • Text-based infographic stating that 93% of kiwi farmers said they won't use methane inhibitors on their stock, with logos of Groundswell NZ and NZ Farming, and mention of a survey of 1,460 NZ farmers.
  • A cow in the center with various medicines and chemicals around it, including placebo pills, syringes, vials, and test tubes, with a bold question asking about animal welfare in the context of farming and methane science.
  • Illustration of a hand pulling a plug out of a power socket, with a quote from Bryce McKenzie discussing the green investment fund and New Zealand agriculture's net-zero warming effect, attributed to Groundswell NZ.
  • 'Send the gene tech bill to the primary production committee.' Groundswell NZ logo is at the bottom.
  • Quote on black background saying, 'Shiny techn solutions to methane emissions may impress bureaucrats, but they won't work in the paddock. So why are they being pushed so hard? Scientist, Peter Foster.'
  • Text overlay on a landscape of grassy plains with sheep, mountains in the background, and cloudy sky. The text reads: 'Our industry leaders need to stand tall against the huge climate change money-making-empire. Stick to the truth & current science. Methane science accord: The case for current science.'
  • A table titled 'Investment highlights' showing companies, tools, animals, funds, and consumer demand status, with a red background and green and black text, featuring icons indicating consumer approval or rejection for each company.
  • Title slide of a presentation with the question, 'Who Asked for Chemical Steak?' in bold white letters on a red and black background, with a smaller subtitle reading 'Methane Science Accord: The Case for Current Science.'
  • A cartoon rural scene with a man wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and rubber boots standing in front of farm animals, including cows, sheep, and a duck. A sun is rising or setting in the background. A signpost shows two arrows: one pointing left says "Quit Paris," and the other pointing right says "Follow Paris +NZ Taxonomy." There is a small barn with a sign that reads "No Credit Approved," and dark smoke is coming from a chimney. The image is related to methane science and climate change.
  • Quote advocating for ending subsidies for methane additives emphasising that customers did not ask additives in steak or milk, and calling for action against AgriZeroNZ.