From 2030, Denmark will tax greenhouse gases emitted by livestock, including cows, sheep and pigs. The move makes it the first country to target this major source of methane emissions, one of the most potentially climate-damaging gases. According to Finance Minister Jeppe Bruus, the goal is to reduce Denmark’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
How will greenhouse gases emitted by livestock be taxed?
From 2030, Danish breeders will have to pay a tax of 300 crowns (around 40 euros) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. There will be a planned increase to 750 crowns (around 100 euros) by 2035. Thanks to a 60% tax deduction, the net cost per tonne will start at 120 crowns (around 16 euros). And it will increase to 300 crowns by 2035.
Applying a reduced initial tax rate of 120 crowns, the tax on each cow amounts to 672 crowns, or approximately 90 euros. Thanks to the tax break, this tax will gradually increase to 1,680 crowns per cow by 2035, or around 225 euros.
Although carbon dioxide generally gets more attention because of its role in climate change, methane is much more powerful at trapping heat over a short period of time, about 87 times more than CO2 over 20 years, according to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Methane levels have increased rapidly since 2020, emitted by various sources such as landfills, the oil and natural gas industries, and livestock.
The latter accounts for about 32% of human-caused methane emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
“We will take a big step forward to achieve climate neutrality by 2045,” Bruus said, emphasizing that Denmark would become the first country to introduce a CO2 tax for agriculture, hoping to inspire other countries to follow this example.
In New Zealand, similar legislation had been passed with an expected entry into force in 2025. However, this initiative was removed from the bill after intense criticism from farmers and a change of government in the 2023 election, moving from a center-left coalition to a center-right party.
Instead of taxing greenhouse gases emitted by livestock, New Zealand will focus on other methods to reduce methane emissions.
The move follows months of protests by farmers across Europe against climate change mitigation measures and regulations that they say are economically damaging. The Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Denmark’s leading environmental and nature protection organization, called the deal a “historic compromise.”
“We have reached a compromise on the CO2 tax, which lays the foundation for a restructured food industry, including on the other side of 2030,” said Maria Reumert Gjerding, the company’s president, after the negotiations in which she took part.
In 2022, Denmark had 1,484,377 cows, according to statistics from Statistics Denmark. This figure represents a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In Denmark, a cow produces approximately 6.6 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. The country, famous for its large exports of dairy and pork products, is also considering taxing pigs. Even though greenhouse gas emissions from cows are considerably higher than those from pigs.
