Denmark wants to tax greenhouse gases emitted by livestock from 2030. An agreement has been reached between the government and farmers’ representatives. A first.
Agriculture is the sector that emits the most greenhouse gases in Denmark and, to remedy this, the country has opted for an original solution: taxing the flatulence of livestock. From 2030, breeders will have to pay for the gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs: a world first.
The burps and farts of these animals are a source of methane, one of the gases that contributes the most to the greenhouse effect and therefore to global warming. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it traps about 87 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, livestock accounts for about 32% of human-related methane emissions. The gas is produced mainly during animal digestion, through a fermentation process, but also comes from manure ponds on pig and cattle farms. For example, a typical Danish cow emits 6.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
An abandoned project in New Zealand
The agreement reached in Denmark on Monday evening plans to tax Danish breeders up to 300 crowns (around €40) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2030, then up to 750 crowns (€100) from 2035 But, thanks to a tax deduction, the real cost per tonne will actually be 120 crowns (€16) in 2030 and up to 300 crowns later.
According to Danish Finance Minister Jeppe Bruus, quoted by AP, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent compared to 1990 levels. Welcoming Denmark as “the first country in the world to introduce a real tax on agricultural CO2,” the minister said he hoped other countries would follow suit.
New Zealand had just passed a similar law that was supposed to come into force in 2025, but it was ultimately abandoned. The country experienced a change of government in the meantime, in 2023, and the new executive abandoned the project after facing strong opposition from farmers.
Denmark was also shaken by the protests of breeders, but common ground was found with their representatives, in particular thanks to the negotiated tax agreement. This new tax must still be submitted for approval to the Danish Parliament but the bill, which enjoys broad consensus, should be adopted without difficulty.
