New Zealand aims to tax the greenhouse emissions produced by cows

People are coming up with unusual ways to fight against climate change. The last we heard was potty-training cows to help curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Now, the latest fashion is taxing cow burps to reduce emissions according to New Zealand's plans, BBC reported.

If the proposal is approved, farmers in New Zealand will pay for the agricultural emissions, to be more frank, greenhouse gasses from farm animals' burps and urines by 2025. It will be a world-first application in tackling climate change.

The country's farming industry makes up about half of its emissions, hence the possible solution.

However, New Zealand farmers are not happy with the proposal. It will "rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand," Federated Farmers national president Andrew Hoggard said.

The money taxed from farmers will go back into the farm industry to help finance new technologies, research, and incentive payments, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Farmers of New Zealand disagree.

"New Zealand's farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions, positioning our biggest export market for the competitive advantage that brings in a world increasingly discerning about the provenance of their food," she added.

The amount of money the farmers will pay has not been decided yet; however, the government encourages the farmers to charge more for climate-friendly products in order to compensate for the tax they'll be paying.

On the other hand, some farmers think this could trigger them to sell up. Farmers will sell their land "so fast you won't even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute (pickup truck) as they drive off," Hoggard added.

As the amount of gas emissions increases, authorities try to put forward different possible solutions to help reduce their carbon print. In some cases, they reveal new products, such as carbon-eating concrete blocks, and build storages that capture carbon.

We are not sure if all these little details will make a drastic change in the long run, but there's no harm in trying.