A burp or fart at the dinner table might land you in trouble – but if you’re a cow or sheep in New Zealand, it might land your owner a hefty tax bill.
Prime Minister Jacinda Arden confirmed at a press conference that her government will push ahead with a proposal to make farmers pay for their livestock’s emissions in a bid to combat climate change.
“This is an important step forward in New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions future and delivers on our promise to price agriculture emissions from 2025,” Ardern said.
New Zealand is a major livestock and meat exporter, and has around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Agriculture accounts for half of the country’s total emissions, including 91% of its biogenic emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide in the short term.
I – Word Understanding
Hefty – large amount
Emissions – the production and discharge/release of something, esp. gas or radiation
Biogenic – produced by a living organism
Potent – strong
II – Have Your Say
1, Do you love beef and other meat products? Additional tax would mean more expensive meat.
Will it make you eat less meat?
2, Can you share your ideas on how to reduce emission from agriculture and other sectors?
3, What are your concerns about climate change and other environmental issues that we are facing now?
What are the steps that your government/country has done so far to counter those issues?
914 New Zealand wants to tax farmers for their cows’ burps and farts
