Dr. Frank Mitloehner:

We have observed here less of a fight of one sector against another. I am actually proud of the protocol that farming has taken, which is where the government has said this is not us using the cane approach of using rules, regulations and fines or taxation to get farmers to reduce emissions. Instead, the state said: "We value our farmers, we want to help them to reduce their carbon footprint, and we do it jointly." They have financially incentivised the reduction of methane. That was an approach that worked. That approach worked because now we have a carbon market that can be accessed by farmers that enumerates and pays them for reducing methane. Our farmers are flocking into ways to reduce methane, not just to be greener and not because it is better for the environment but also to have an additional income stream. To me, that is an approach that works. I have seen other places in the world where taxation was used or herd size reductions were used and I do not believe that these approaches work quite as well. Herd size reduction does not change the demand structure behind it. The demand is still there and will be satisfied by somebody else in the world, and this means emissions are moving from one place to another and, as I alluded to earlier, this leads to leakage that will not change our total livestock impact on climate globally.