The Denmark government reached a momentous agreement on Monday with the parties in the green tripartite to impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions resulting from livestock. The parties included Agriculture & Food, Denmark’s Nature Conservation Association, Food Federation NNF, Dansk Metal, Dansk Industry and KL.
The Agreement on a Green Denmark introduces several long-term plans for the reconstruction and development of climate, environment, and agriculture in Denmark, aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fulfilling its 2030 climate targets that require a 70 per cent reduction in all domestic greenhouse gas emissions compared to emissions in 1990. According to the agreement, the agriculture of Denmark must contribute to a green future, meaning that domestic farmers need to pay a fee of 120 Danish kroner per ton of CO2 emissions from 2030, which will rise to 300 Danish kroner per ton in 2035.
Addressing the concerns of some farmers, Federation chairman of the Norwegian Food Federation NNF Ole Wehlast stressed that the preservation of Danish jobs has been a priority for him during the whole process. Therefore, the agreement seeks to achieve a more sustainable, high-tech and land-efficient agriculture with competitiveness and good jobs throughout the country. According to Wehlast, it could provide several solutions to avert the risk of massive job loss in the Danish food industry.
Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus pointed out that with the agreement Denmark will reach the climate goals in 2030 and take a big step closer to becoming climate-neutral in 2045. Also, he believed that the agreement is a sign of how much the government can achieve when different Danish parties come together to find common solutions to challenges posed by climate change.
To make the green tripartite agreement a reality, the government and Novo Nordisk Foundation on Tuesday agreed that over the next 10 years, the fund will prioritize 10 billion Danish krone to carry out the significant task of ensuring the conversion of Danish land. Stephanie Lose, Economy Minister of Denmark, highlighted that the green tripartite agreement creates a framework for more efficient agricultural production, as well as sets a clear direction for the green transition of Danish agriculture in the future.
The agreement provides that parties reach a compromise on the CO2 tax, making Denmark the first country to introduce a CO2 emissions tax on agriculture in Europe. In the autumn of this year, the government and Novo Nordisk Foundation will discuss a more concrete plan for the distribution of the fund over the 10-year period.
The increasing frequency of extreme weather and abnormal climatic phenomena in recent years pushed governments to take effective measures from both political and legal dimensions to slow down the speed of global warming, a significant goal in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Last month, the European Union reinforced the regulation by approving a new law to regulate CO2 emissions of heavy-duty vehicles to a stricter standard. Similarly, New Zealand’s previous government tried to put a price on agricultural emissions to meet its commitment to ceasing global warming, however, the plan was terminated this month due to the backlash from farmers.
