Denmark, a European Union member, will become the first country to tax farmyard animals in an attempt to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, multiple outlets reported.
The government of Denmark will begin to levy a tax of 300 kroner — approximately $43 — for each ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalents in 2030 on certain farm animals, according to The Associated Press (AP). This will reportedly include cows, sheep and pigs.
A 60% tax deduction will mean the tax will start off at 120 kroner, or over $17, the outlet reported. The tax will reportedly increase to 750 kroner — approximately $108 — by 2035. Denmark’s government intends to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas output by 70% when compared to 1990 levels by 2030, according to the outlet.
China emits 142 times more methane than Denmark but Denmark will tax its farmers and raise consumer prices to ‘save the planet.’🙄
BTW, methane is irrelevant to climate. https://t.co/chHLnuyPxYhttps://t.co/xktEAOg82M pic.twitter.com/uVBIvmszkP
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) June 26, 2024
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The legislation is an effort to reduce the supposed impacts of Danish agricultural emissions on global warming, including both carbon dioxide and the even more dangerous greenhouse gas, methane, the AP reported. The U.N. Environment Program attributes 32% of all global methane output to livestock, according to CBS News. (RELATED: Video Shows English Police Car Mow Down Runaway Cow, Officer Suspended)
“We will take a big step closer in becoming climate neutral in 2045,” Danish Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus reportedly stated. “[Denmark] will be the first country in the world to introduce a real CO2 tax on agriculture.”
The legislation comes after similar attempts at a so-called “Burp-Tax” were shelved in New Zealand following the Labour Party’s electoral loss and protests by the farming community, according to The Indian Express.
Reminder – New Zealand outlines plans to tax livestock burps, farts | AFP
New Zealand unveils plans to tax the greenhouse gas emissions from farm animals, in a controversial proposal designed to tackle climate change. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the levy will be the first… pic.twitter.com/SDykmjkLI8— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 25, 2023
Protests by farming groups have grown in Europe against what has been characterized as draconian and unworkable legislation to meet Net-Zero targets. In January, 2024, The General Farmers Syndicate — the national farming union — in Belgium blockaded the country’s North Sea Port for at least 36 hours in protest of tariff free imports from countries like Ukraine, who are not bound by the European Union’s increasingly strict environmental standards, in just one of many incidents that have disrupted supply chains in recent years.
