Flatulent livestock to incur green levy in Denmark from 2030
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/26/flatulent-livestock-to-incur-green-levy-in-denmark-from-2035
Flatulent livestock to incur green levy in Denmark from 2030
Worlds first emissions tax on agriculture will require farmers to pay for greenhouse gas pollution from livestock
Ajit Niranjan
Wed 26 Jun 2024 09.55 EDT
Farmers in Denmark will have to pay for planet-heating pollutants that their cattle expel as gas, after the government agreed to set the worlds first emissions tax on agriculture.
The agreement reached on Monday night after months of fraught negotiations between farmers, industry, politicians and environmental groups will introduce an effective tax of 120 kroner (£14) per ton of greenhouse gas pollution from livestock in 2030, which will rise to 300 kroner per ton in 2035.
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Ruminant animals such as cattle and sheep release vast amounts of methane when digesting food. The gas, which is also released when extracting and processing fossil fuels, heats the planet about 80 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, but does not last as long in the atmosphere.
The proposed Danish tax on agricultural emissions is below levels that experts say would reflect the social cost of emitting a ton of greenhouse gas, but may still spur shifts to cleaner farming practices. Under the EUs emissions trading scheme, which does not cover agriculture, the price of emitting a ton of carbon dioxide has ranged from 50 to 100 over the last three years.
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