Excuse me! New Zealand could tax burping cows and sheep

COW and sheep burps could be taxed in New Zealand as part of a draft plan to put a price on agricultural emissions and to tackle one of the country’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases.

The proposal would make New Zealand, a large agricultural exporter, the first country to have farmers pay for emissions from livestock, the environment ministry said.

New Zealand has five million people, 10million cattle and 26million sheep.

Nearly half its total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane, but agricultural emissions have previously been exempted from the country’s emissions trading scheme, raising questions about the bid to stop global warming.

Under the draft plan, put together by government and agricultural representatives, farmers will have to pay for their gas emissions from 2025. The costs are likely to be passed down to consumers, potentially raising the price of meat.

“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 James Shaw, the climate change minister.

A final decision on the scheme is expected in December.