Albanese government has guaranteed farmers won’t be hurt if Australia signs methane pledge, NFF says

Peter Dutton has characterised the global pledge as a ‘tax on cows’ but the agriculture minister Murray Watt says ‘most farm groups’ support reducing methane emissions. Photograph: The AGE/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

The Albanese government has provided assurances that farmers will not be hurt if Australia signs on to Joe Biden’s global pledge to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030, the National Farmers Federation (NFF) says.

Guardian Australia revealed in June that Labor was considering signing the pledge, and the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, on Thursday said he was “comfortable if we sign up to it”, although he said the government had not yet signed off on the commitment.