New Zealand is putting a “carbon” tax on livestock belching and flatulence to help reduce its methane gas emissions..About half of New Zealand’s carbon emissions are from the agricultural sector, which is a major part of its economy..New Zealand is a major meat and dairy products exporter with about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep compared to a population of five million people..Climate Change Minister James Shaw said New Zealand needs to cut its emissions and livestock plays a key part..“There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will play a key part in how we achieve that,” said Shaw..New Zealand has not included animal emissions in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme..Starting in 2025, the proposed tax would force farmers to pay for their livestock’s emissions..According to the Environmental Protection Agency, methane gas in the short term is “more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide.”.However, methane gas leaves the atmosphere after around 10 years, whereas carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years..New Zealand will be the first country to tax burps and farts with climate change activists pointing to the meat industry as a quick way to reduce global warming..The government’s plan to tax the burps and farts involves farmers putting additives into the animal feed, which reduces gases, or planting trees on their farms to absorb the gases. .The money raised through the tax goes into climate research and development, and a farmer advisory service..The President of Federated Farmers of New Zealand and dairy farmer Andrew Hoggard told the BBC farmers approve most of the plan..“We’ve been working with the government and other organizations on this for years to get an approach that won’t shut down farming in New Zealand, so we’ve signed off on a lot of stuff we’re happy with,” said Hoggard. .“But you know, like all of these types of agreements with many parties involved, there’s always going to be a couple of dead rats you have to swallow.”
