Fonterra is aiming to reduce is greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

Radio New Zealand reported that Fonterra’s chief executive Andrew Ferrier told a climate change conference in Wellington that the company will reduce the intensity of the milk sourced and processed by 30 percent a litre by 2030.     

He also told the conference that the average Kiwi dairy farmer is paying an extra $3600 a year through the Emissions Trading Scheme. 

According to Fonterra’s website the company is also running its own internal emissions trading scheme called the Emission Account.  

The system compiles data on the carbon dioxide emissions at all of Fonterra’s manufacturing sites and assigns those emissions a hypothetical dollar value – which Fonterra says incentivizes their reduction.

The informal programme sees emissions information posted on staff notice boards and has reportedly stirred friendly competition among plants.   

Fonterra says its work at reducing emissions has seen its energy consumption drop by 13.9 percent per tonne of product since 2003.

To put that figure in perspective, that’s 320,000 tonnes less of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere or the equivalent energy needed to power 100,000 New Zealand homes.