The New Zealand government on Tuesday unveiled a plan to tax greenhouse gases naturally emitted by farm animals, a proposal to curb climate change.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it would be the first such tax in the world.
The gases emitted by New Zealand’s 6.2 million cows are among the country’s biggest environmental problems.
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2 of 2 group of cows grazing in New Zealand — Photo: William WEST / AFP
Group of grazing cows in New Zealand (Photo: William WEST / AFP)
The new tax plan would make farmers pay for pollution from their animals, such as methane gas from cows’ belches and farts or nitrous oxide in cattle’s urine.
Ardern said it was a “pragmatic proposal” to reduce agricultural emissions and boost the sustainability image of New Zealand products.
The government plans to pass this proposal next year and introduce the tax in three years.
Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard denounced the program as “destroying New Zealand’s small towns”.
The company uses lightning to turn manure methane into compost