[October Thematic Report] Taxing Agricultural Emissionby Seojin Lee | 03-11-2022 20:44 |
|---|
|
How else could agricultural pollution be decreased? New Zealand came up with a groundbreaking policy: to tax agricultural emissions such as urine or gas emissions of livestock. The government announced the radical bill to take place starting in 2025. The bill was constructed in hopes to meet the country's goal for climate change, which is to decrease methane emissions by 10% by the end of 2030. The idea of taxing natural emissions of livestock may sound inefficient or strange; however, it is imperative to note that more than half of New Zealand's greenhouse emissions-carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide-have been reported to be from agriculture alone. In fact, the government traced back the emissions of carbon dioxide from urea, nitrous oxide from livestock urine and feces, and methane from livestock gas. Such data validates New Zealand's proposal for the policy to monitor agricultural pollution. Needless to say, the bill is not perfect nor welcomed by everyone. Certainly, there have been protests from local farmers. Yet, the government continues to emphasize its concern for the environment as well as hope for the efficiency of the agricultural emission bill. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/12/new-zealand-plans-to-tax-emissions-from-livestock-burps-and-dung.html#:~:text=New%20Zealand%20plans%20to%20tax%20agricultural%20emissions%20%E2%80%94%20including%20those%20related,come%20into%20force%20in%202025. |
