Today’s Solutions: June 23, 2025

Cow and sheep burps are huge emitters of methane — which is over 80 times more efficient than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. But while livestock is the main contributor to the agriculture sector’s emissions, they are often excluded from emissions trading plans. Soon, that will no longer be the case in New Zealand.

Pricing livestock burps

The country’s government has recently put forward a proposal that seeks to price agricultural emissions from belching cattle and sheep. The aim is to put a dent in of the country’s largest sources of greenhouse gases. If it gets implemented, New Zealand will become the first country in the world to require farmers to pay for their livestock’s emissions, said the Ministry for Environment.

A large agricultural exporter, New Zealand has about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Meanwhile, its population only numbers 5 million people. About 50 percent of its total greenhouse gas emissions come from farming, particularly methane. With that said, agricultural emissions have so far been excluded from the country’s emissions trading strategy.

The government devised the proposal together with farm community representatives. As part of the plan, farmers will have to pay a fee for their livestock’s belch emissions from 2025 onwards. Farm gas will be subject to different prices, depending on whether it’s short- or long-lived, reports Reuters.

“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,” Climate Change Minister James Shaw said.

Incentives for farmers to reduce their emissions

As part of the plan, farmers will be able to benefit from incentives by reducing their emissions through feed additives or on-farm forestry. The proceeds collected through the scheme will go into research, development, and consulting services for farmers, reports Reuters.

“Our recommendations enable sustainable food and fiber production for future generations while playing a fair part in meeting our country’s climate commitments,” said Michael Ahie, chair of the primary sector partnership, He Waka Eke Noa.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Decriminalizing rough sleeping: A new chapter in compassion and justice

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a long-awaited step towards justice for the most vulnerable, the UK government has announced plans to scrap ...

Read More

How to be an ally part I: performative allyship

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Why we’re revisiting our series on allyship this Pride Month At The Optimist Daily, we believe that allyship ...

Read More

Seven tips for cooling your home without AC

Many of us can already feel the heated start of Summer, along with the urge to crank up the air-conditioning. While heatstroke is a ...

Read More

U.S. Capitol’s statue collection unveils first statue of Black American

For many cultures and countries, working through heavy social issues like racism or genocide means confronting the ugly scars that have been left behind ...

Read More