Denmark to charge farmers £80 per cow in world-first meat tax

37 comments

1. ***The Telegraph reports:***

   Denmark will charge farmers up to £80 for every cow in a world-first carbon tax on agriculture as the country tries to encourage people to eat less meat to tackle climate change.

   Agriculture is the largest emitting sector in Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter and the government hopes the tax will help it reach its goals of cutting emissions by 70 per cent this decade.

   It will establish a fund with proceeds from the tax to help farmers go green and has put £58 million into feed additives to cut methane emissions from cows.

   The new tax, which was agreed upon after negotiations with farming and green groups, will impose a levy of £13.50 per ton of CO2 in 2030, rising to £85 in 2035 although a 60 per cent rebate will be applied.

   That will add an initial cost of around £80 per dairy cow, which emits an average of six tonnes of CO2 equivalent, according to Danish green think tank Concito, which cites a Danish government working group.

   It could add an extra cost of 23p per kilo of minced beef, according to Denmark’s Minister for Economic Affairs Stephanie Lose.

   She said the law would herald “a historic reorganisation and restructuring of Denmark’s land and food production.”

   Although the law was passed after negotiations between the main food and farming trade bodies, as well as it, and its largest environmental organisation, it was criticised by some farming groups. Farmers organisation Bæredygtigt Landbrug told the Financial Times that the agreement was crazy and showed that the Government was not listening to farmers.

   Torsten Hasforth from Concito said there were some concerns the new law could undercut Danish farmers by increasing imports but the view had been taken that “someone has to start”.

   “The whole idea is to spur innovation and solutions from the sector,” he said. “This is an attempt to try something that actually ends up reducing emissions.”

   Denmark has one of the highest rates of beef consumption in the world, and the government has some of the most ambitious policies to encourage plant-based eating.

   Pork, also very popular in Denmark, emits less but would also be subject to the carbon tax.

   Last year Denmark published a world-first plan for how to incentivise the production and consumption of more vegetables and alternative proteins. It came after the government changed national guidelines to reduce meat consumption in line with recommendations for environmentally sustainable diets.

   But Danes are less enthusiastic about meat alternatives and say they are less likely to reduce their meat consumption in the near future, compared to other Europeans, according to research from the University of Copenhagen.

   Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, reportedly said she hoped the new tax would pave the way for similar levies elsewhere in the future.

   UK Government ministers have previously floated the idea of a tax on British agriculture but backed away from the levies in recent proposals to extend its carbon tax regime.

   The European Union has also held discussions about including agriculture in its carbon emissions trading system, but any move would likely face significant opposition from farming groups, who have staged protests across the bloc in recent months.

   **Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/06/26/denmark-charge-farmers-per-cow-in-world-first-meat-tax/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/06/26/denmark-charge-farmers-per-cow-in-world-first-meat-tax/)

2. Bet they never tax pigs.

3. So the price of cow products will go up in Denmark. Good time for some option trading 🙂

   Jokes aside: will they also tax industries?

4. Good and maybe stop with pig farming and export ? Maybe more people go vegan finally .

5. This is dystopian in my opinion. I know people may have strong feelings on the subject, but penalising farmers and meat eaters seems like a gross over-reach of government power.

6. Danish meat is too cheap anyways. The cheapest meats you can buy in Finland are Danish exports

7. Human co2/methane tax when? (/s but i’m afraid)

8. [serious]if meat isn’t sold there is no incentive to keep these animals. Animals die and their meat is consumed one way or another by nature. Unless you’re extremely wealthy you’re not going to keep a cow as pet for fun.

   They should have done what the Netherlands has done (thanks to Party for Animals): introduce rating system for quality of life animal experienced. I deliberately buy higher quality life meat. (Though I’m sorry to have discovered any premium I’ve paid goes to those in the middle, not farmers.).

   Edit: farmers are the ones feeding us. Why are they being punished? I wouldn’t know how to find food if my life depended on it in case I couldn’t buy it fact for ≥90% of population.

9. Jesus christ we’re retarded as a species 🤦🏻‍♂️

10. No worries Europe will just import even more meat from fucking South America instead. That’s surely better for the environment, right?

11. So just to bring context – this is meant to be done by 2030

    However… remember that this is by FAR the biggest export…

    The coalition government is also serviced with one minister that formerly were part of an extremely farmer friendly party…

    One that spearheaded these negotiations

    However more plantbased alternatives are popping up – we have restaurants advertising and advocating for plant-based alternatives

    Honestly I’d love for the tax to hit the consumers to basically halve the national consumption

    We have for too long lived with meat being the norm for consumption even though we have told ourselves “alt med måde” (everything within reason) – we just have forgotten to take meat into that calculation (as a society and populace)

12. Europe becoming more and more of a shithole day by day

13. Jesus that is insanity.

    Countries like Ireland and Denmark have some of the highest dairy yield per acre in the world.

    Efficiency is important to climate change, people will eat beef and drink milk it must be produced.

    Alas no, let’s just tax us all into oblivion and import it from burnt rainforests in Brazil.

14. It’s important to note the farmers and their interest organisation are all happy with this outcome.

    If there was something to complain about they would, they always do.

15. S> Beef, Sweden, no lowball, PM for price

16. And what they will do with those money? or is just a money grab for state budget?

17. Didn’t New Zealand do something similar?

18. Damn! The brits never stopped colonising

19. “If only there was a way to stop people from eating healthy” the danish probably.

20. Anything that makes Denmark’s shit quality pork more expensive and so less tempting to importers is fine by me.

21. Weird to levy the tax on the farmers. Have they cut all subsidies first?
    Either way, it’s great news, hopefully this project will spark many more in other countries. 

22. This decision was taken after multiple big wigs flew in private jets and helicopters, hopped on big SUVs and wasted electricity, all to reach this amazing solution.

23. Doesnt climate change happen because we take carbon out of the ground and into the atmosphere. How would this work in reducing climate change, if cows and farming are a closed loop of carbon?

24. Bro wake up you have India, the whole Africa and the whole asia polluting and you think europe can solve the climate crisis? YOU CAN’T

25. Will they tax imported meat as well? Otherwise it’s kind of pointless.

26. Yes, the cows are way more damaging to the environment than coal powered power plants, yes this a great measure, definitely won’t hurt the farmers more, yes such a smart measure

27. How did they pass this without farmers burning Copenhagen to the ground?

28. Are they going to protest again?

29. When will people realize that none of this is really about caring for environment?

30. It would be much better if they taxed them for using pesticides! Insect numbers are plummeting and that’s the real issue!

31. but what about petri dish lab grown meat?

32. so meat becomes the preserve of the rich, and we are left to eat what, bugs? NAH

33. If i fart too much am I in trouble?

34. Climate change is a religion in an increasingly agnostic world

35. Wake up babe, a new eco-tax that will only affect poor people has just dropped (yeah I know the amount is low but its fucking annoying).

36. Are they also going to subsidize alternative sources of protein or is it de factor a tax for being poor?

    >“The whole idea is to spur innovation and solutions from the sector,” he said. “This is an attempt to try something that actually ends up reducing emissions.”

    Same logic as the plane ticker tax from the other days. If you make the thing more expensive but don’t subsidize the alternatives, you believe that the invisible hand of the free market will solve issues for you. Maybe it has an effect on emissions. But it also creates a more unequal world. And if you keep associating environmental policies with sacrifices for the poor, people will eventually have enough.

37. This is bad because it will invariably shift “production” abroad and is authoritarian. But it is good because it will reduce meat consumption and therefore animal cruelty.