Agriculture tax in New Zealand: Taxes will have to be paid for cow-sheep belching and urine from 2025
Agriculture tax in New Zealand: Taxes will have to be paid for cow-sheep belching and urine from 2025, it will be used in research
New Zealand is set to become the first country in the world to levy an agriculture tax. The government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern believes that the gases released by the belching of cows, sheep and goats harm the environment. That's why this tax is being levied.
The money received from the tax will be used for research related to farmers. A few months back the bill for this tax was prepared. The farmers had opposed this, but now the government has made it clear that this tax will definitely be imposed from 2025.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern held a press conference with three ministers. Said- We do not want to call this Agriculture Emission Scheme a tax. The money that will be received from this will be used only on research related to the welfare of farmers. From 2025, farmers will have to pay taxes on methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Ardern further said – With this step, New Zealand farmers will be able to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the world. No other country in the world has ever done this.
New Zealand is one of the countries in the world that exports the largest number of dairy products. It is also a fact that this sector constitutes half of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the country. According to Jacinda- By 2030, we want to bring methane emissions to 10%.
The Federated Farmers Organization is opposing this move of the government. He says that this will reduce earnings and spend more. He alleges that small farmers will get very upset.
The government says that the money received from the tax will be used to make such equipment, which can reduce the effect of methane and other harmful gases.
Before bringing the tax proposal, the New Zealand government had conducted research on greenhouse gases with an expert panel. It was said that methane from the belching of a cow or buffalo and nitrogen oxide from urine is released and it causing damage.
The population of New Zealand is about 5 million and there are more than 10 million cows and buffaloes here. Apart from this, there are about 2.5 crore sheep. These animals account for half of the country's total greenhouse emissions.
The Environment Ministry of the New Zealand government has already said that it wants to bring carbon emissions to near zero by 2050.