Agriculture advocacy group Groundswell New Zealand helped organize more than 50 protests in towns and cities across the country, the largest involving a few dozen tractors.
The pioneering plan was unveiled on October 11 as part of efforts by the oceanic country, a major agricultural exporter, to combat the effects of the climate crisis. The proposal could make New Zealand the first nation in the world where farmers pay for livestock emissions.
In New Zealand, a country of five million people, almost half of the country’s emissions come from the agricultural sector, mainly from the 26 million sheep and 10 million cows, ruminant mammals that expel the methane produced during digestion in the form of of belching and flatulence.
But some farmers have argued that the tax will actually increase global greenhouse gas emissions, as it could lead to a shift of farming and ranching to less efficient food-producing countries.
“The government’s ideological commitment to punitive and counterproductive taxes on emissions from agricultural production threatens the very existence of rural communities,” said Bryan McKenzie of Groundswell New Zealand.
Environmentalists felt New Zealand farmers were caught in the crossfire.
“The country’s rural and agricultural sector has been hit hard this year by floods, intense storms and droughts,” said Emily Bailey of Climate Justice Taranaki.
“The situation is only getting worse. Farmers can adapt and reduce emissions quickly or suffer more, just like everyone else”, lamented the activist.
The plan, which is in consultation with farmers until November 18, does not provide an estimate of the tax revenue that will be collected from 2025, nor does it define the price of emissions or how they will be measured.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Oct. 11 that all money raised from the tax will be returned to industry by funding new technology, research and incentives for farmers.
The proposal, also promoted by the alliance of primary sector associations He Waka Eke Noa, includes incentives for farmers to reduce emissions, which can also be offset by planting forests.
The agricultural sector accounts for 10% of New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 65% of export earnings.
The New Zealand government, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, has until the end of the year to decide how it will tax emissions from the agricultural sector.
Source: TSF
