World's first carbon tax on agriculture costs farmers £75 per cow over their burps and manure
Dairy farmers in Denmark will have to pay an annual tax of 672 krone (around £75) per cow due to the planet-heating emissions they generate.
Dairy farmers in Denmark will have to pay an annual tax of 672 krone (around £75) per cow due to the planet-heating emissions they generate.
It is the world's first carbon emissions tax on agriculture, and while it has been broadly welcomed by Denmark's dairy industry, the move has angered some farmers.
The country's coalition government agreed on the tax this week, with new levies on livestock due to start in 2030.
Denmark is a major dairy and pork exporter, and agriculture is the country’s biggest source of emissions.
A share of this pollution comes from methane, a potent planet-warming gas produced by cows and some other animals through their burps and manure.
The tax, expected to be approved by Denmark’s parliament later this year, will amount to 300 krone (around £35) per tonne of CO2-equivalent emissions from livestock from 2030, rising to 750 krone (around £85) in 2035.
A 60% tax break will apply, meaning that farmers will effectively be charged 120 krone (around £15) per tonne of livestock emissions per year from 2030, rising to 300 krone (around £35) in 2035.Using the lower tax rate results in a charge of around £75 per cow, with the levy rising to 1,680 krone (around £190) per cow in 2035.The agreement also entails investing 40 billion krone (around £4.5 billion) in measures including reforestation and establishing wetlands in a bid to meet the nation's climate goals.
In a statement Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said: “With today’s agreement, we are investing billions in the biggest transformation of the Danish landscape in recent times. At the same time, we will be the first country in the world with a (carbon) tax on agriculture.”
It comes just months after farmers held protests across Europe – blocking roads with tractors and pelting the European Parliament with eggs over a long list of grievances, including gripes about environmental regulation and excessive red tape.
Danish farmers’ group Bæredygtigt Landbrug described the new measures as a "scary experiment". Chairman Peter Kiær said: “We believe that the agreement is pure bureaucracy.
“We recognise that there is a climate problem… But we do not believe that this agreement will solve the problems, because it will put a spoke in the wheel of agriculture’s green investments."Peder Tuborgh, the CEO of Arla Foods, Europe’s largest dairy group, said the agreement was “positive” but that farmers who “genuinely do everything they can to reduce emissions” should not be subjected to a tax.“It is essential that the tax base for a (carbon) tax is solely based on emissions for which there are means to eliminate (them),” he added.
Kristian Hundeboll, the CEO of DLG Group, one of Europe’s biggest agricultural businesses and a cooperative owned by 25,000 Danish farmers, said it was “crucial for competitiveness” for the tax to be “anchored” in European Union legislation.
“Neither the climate, agriculture nor the ancillary industries benefit from Denmark acting unilaterally,” he said.
The global food system is a huge contributor to the climate crisis, accounting for around a third of greenhouse gas emissions.
In particular, livestock farming has a big impact, accounting for around 12% of global emissions in 2015, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation
A share of this pollution comes from methane, a potent planet-warming gas produced by cows and some other animals through their burps and manure.
On average, Danish dairy cows, which account for much of the cattle population, emit 5.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year, according to Concito, a green think tank in Denmark.
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What a FN scam.
Seems the dairy farmers have been selected to subsidize Denmark's new "guests."