Climate change – greenhouse gases: New Zealand wants to tax cow farts

According to the government, farmers can “offset” tax losses by raising prices for climate-friendly farmed produce. Under the scheme, farmers pay for the emissions of their animals’ gases, such as methane from cows’ fart and belching and nitrous oxide from their urine.

Prime Minister Jacinda Adern described the plan as “realistic”, but one that did not appeal to farmers who feared small farms would not be able to survive. “New Zealand farmers have over 1.4 million hectares of primeval forest on their lands that absorb carbon”identified for their part Beef + Lamb New Zealand, one of the main representatives of breeders.

The gases emitted naturally by New Zealand’s 6.2 million cows are one of the major environmental problems in a country with a population of “only 5 million” (and 26 million sheep), according to apnews.com which also states that New Zealand is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making the country carbon neutral by 2050. Part of this plan includes a commitment to reduce methane emissions from farm animals by 10% by 2030 and up to 47% by 2050.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, committed to fighting greenhouse gases, proposes a tax unprecedented in the world. https://t.co/UKRIqsFjhR

– Morning (Lematinch) October 11, 2022

The government hopes that its project will succeed quickly to be implemented in 2025, knowing that the legislative elections are scheduled for 2023. A similar proposal was submitted in 2003, but it was not followed up.