Reuters – The New Zealand government has confirmed plans to separately price agricultural long-lived gases and biogenic methane that mainly comes from cow and sheep burps, in a plan that concerns farm groups.
The government recently released its proposed plan on agricultural emissions pricing, which when introduced in 2025 will make New Zealand, a large agricultural exporter, the first country to have farmers pay for emissions from livestock.
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The proposed plan has been criticized by farming groups worried about how the proposal accounts for on-farm forestry and what can be offset against emissions. They say increased costs will encourage farmers to turn beef and sheep farms into forestry.
New Zealand has about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Nearly half its total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane, but agricultural emissions have previously been exempted from the country’s trading scheme.
