A tax on cow and pig flatulence is Denmark’s attempt to take care of the environment

With the aim of reducing emissions, Denmark Start charging Taxes For farmers greenhouse gases Given by them Cows, Goats And Pigs From 2023 onwards. Such a decision makes the Nordic country the first to propose such an initiative, the news agency reports. Associated Press (AP).

Emissions are expected to be reduced by 70% by 2030 from levels recorded in the 1990s, said Danish Tax Minister Jeppe Brus.

He Methane A major hydrocarbon and a greenhouse gas responsible for the formation of ozone at ground level, according to the data UN Environment Programme (UNEP). He dung of cattle And its Flatulence They represent 32 percent of emissions.

Denmark’s livestock farmers must pay taxes, according to the news agency 300 crowns (approximately US$42 at current exchange rates) for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted. Fees will increase up to 750 crowns ($108) starting in 2035 with a 60 percent discount.

In a 2021 study, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The US (NOAA) notes that methane is “much less” but “28 times more potent than CO2”.

Bruce indicated that they would take a step “towards climate neutrality in 2045” and that Denmark would be the first country in the world to “introduce a real CO2 tax on agriculture”.

Members of the Danish Nature Conservation Association, the country’s largest environmental organization, called the agreement “historic” and that it “marks a direction for nature and agriculture.”

Maria Reumert, the organization’s director, said the most important thing for them “has always been the long-term transformation of agriculture”. But he acknowledged that the line was “far from our starting point” and therefore represented a “difficult compromise”.

“It is also clear that we can achieve our political ambitions only by getting closer to each other, and this agreement is very ambitious and innovative,” Reumert highlighted.

According to the director, the agreement will allow Denmark to become “the first country in the world to impose a CO2 tax on agricultural processes”, a tool that, according to them, will age out of acting “and need” as reality changes.

“With the 2032 review, we have the opportunity to reduce the minimum deduction, so that farmers have more incentive to use the measures, but at such a level the tax receives many concrete deductions in the subsequent period” noted Reumert.

According to reports from APEvery cow is capable of producing 6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year And, according to figures cited by the news agency, as of June 30, 2022, the Scandinavian country had 1,484,377 goats.

James Lomax, UNEP Agriculture and Food Systems Adviser, noted in the 2021 paper that rethinking “approaches to crop cultivation and livestock production”, using new technologies and adopting “plant-rich foods and alternative sources of protein” will be key. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

UNEP experts can contribute to reducing the carbon footprint by feeding their animals more nutritious food so that they are “bigger, healthier and more productive” using fewer resources, while scientists reduce alternative feed for cows and methane emissions by turning manure into compost or feedstock for biogas production. Most efficient ways to dispose of manure.