The New Zealand government's controversial measure to tax greenhouse gas emissions through livestock burps and farts is still met with strong hostility from livestock farmers, despite several changes.
Not yet implemented, this law aims to control the environmental footprint of its six million cows and 26 million sheep, by taxing methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
It would be the first of its kind in the world.
"Our common goal is to help farmers export more, reduce their emissions and ensure that our agricultural sector remains internationally competitive," Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.
“New Zealand is the only one opting for a punitive response”
“New Zealand is the only one opting for a punitive response,” New Zealand Farmers Federation president Andrew Hoggard criticized in a statement, adding that agricultural production was an “efficient” and “unsubsidized” sector. ".
According to the first version of this plan, farmers will have to pay according to the emissions of their animals, which sent New Zealand's farming community into a frenzy and sparked protests in late October.
The farmers had simply asked the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to abandon this tax, pointing out the risk of an increase in food prices.
One of the changes made by the government on Wednesday includes the possibility of offsetting animal carbon emissions by developing forestry on farms, in order to take advantage of a low tax.
Methane is less abundant and does not stay in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it is a much more powerful factor in climate change.
This chemical compound is responsible for around 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution, scientists estimate, although it only accounts for a fraction of the composition of greenhouse gases.
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New Zealand: The government wants to tax cow farts
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