New Zealand will price long-lived agricultural gases and methane separately

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WELLINGTON — The New Zealand government on Tuesday confirmed plans to price long-lived agricultural gases and biogenic methane separately when agricultural emissions are priced from 2025.

The government on Tuesday released its draft plan on pricing agricultural emissions, which, when introduced, will make New Zealand, a major agricultural exporter, the first country to make farmers pay for livestock emissions.

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that the proposal aims to give New Zealand farmers control of their farming system, offering the opportunity to reduce costs through revenue generated from the system being recycled back to farmers. One of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases in the country is the belching of sheep and cattle.

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The published consultation document proposes that the prices of long-lived gases such as carbon dioxide should be set annually and be based on national emissions prices for other sectors, while the price of the charge on the Biogenic methane would have a single price based on progress toward national methane targets. He added that farmers and growers will need to provide information, including farm size and nitrogen use, to determine their nitrogen bill.

The proposal is now subject to consultation and will have to be adopted by the government before being put into effect.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)