Last month Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter, reached a historic agreement with farming and conservation groups to introduce a carbon tax on livestock farming, making it the first country to do so.
To fulfill Denmark’s target of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels, the deal calls for taxing farmers 300 Danish krone (about $43) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. The tax, which would start in 2030, would apply to all greenhouse gas emissions from livestock digestion and manure handling and will be increased to 750 Danish krone by 2035.
From the start, Denmark wanted its tax to be a model for the rest of the world. Agriculture, forestry, and other land use contributed approximately 22% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide in 2019 — and in Denmark, at current rates agriculture and forestry are set to account for approximately 46% of emissions by the end of the decade.