In New Zealand, they want to tax burping

In recent years, the situation with the environment has deteriorated so much that any means are good for correcting it. The New Zealand authorities have decided to introduce a tax on the belching of livestock. In a country where there are four times more sheep than people and two times more cows, animals have become the largest source of greenhouse—causing methane.

It just so happens that every animal releases 400-500 liters of methane into the atmosphere per day. This happens with the release of intestinal gases and belching. Although the lifetime of methane in the atmosphere of our planet is less than carbon dioxide, it retains heat 30 times more efficiently.

New Zealand is a small country where only 5 million people live. But 20 million sheep and 10 million cows graze on its green islands. And this is not counting goats, pigs and other less common animals. The share of the livestock industry in air pollution in the country is about 50 percent.

You might think there's nothing you can do about it. But this is not so — scientists do not eat their bread in vain. Special feed additives have been created to significantly reduce the release of methane by animals. In addition, green spaces are perfectly protected from greenhouse gases. The new cattle burping tax should encourage farmers to use nutritional supplements and plant trees and shrubs.

The tax will be introduced in 2025. Now the government of the country is developing a mechanism that will allow collecting money from livestock breeders and controlling emissions. After the new law comes into force, New Zealand will become the first country in the world where farmers pay for cow and sheep burps. By the way, a similar tax has been in effect in Estonia for a long time, but it concerns only the intestinal gases of cows.