Food System

Denmark, taxes on emissions from cattle and pigs

June 28, 2024

Denmark will tax livestock farmers for methane emissions from their cattle, pigs and sheep. With the declared objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70%, by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Table of Contents

1) Denmark, taxes on methane emissions from animals

Danish breeders will be taxed, starting from 2030, at the rate of 300 crowns (€40,23) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2eq). The tax will increase to DK 750 (€100,57) in 2035.

The tax deduction on income tax (60%) will result in the amounts being reduced to DK 120 (€16,09, from 2030) and DK 300 (€40,23, from 2035)/t co2eq, respectively. (1) The beating with the discount.

2) Impact on the pig supply chain

Danish taxes on animal emissions will first and foremost affect the approximately 5.000 farms that produce approximately 28 million pigs a year. Most pigs are slaughtered in the Danish Crown and Tican cooperative slaughterhouses.

The export of pork – in 140 countries, starting with Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, China, Japan, Italy, Russia and Sweden – represents more than 5% of Denmark’s total exports, for around €3 billion in 2022. (2)

The biggest costs of production will therefore be reflected in the consumer prices of meat, both beef and pork. And on the prices of the various products (i.e. burgers, sausages, hams, cured meats everywhere made from Danish meat.

3) Dissociation

The Danish minister for finances Jeppe Bruus boasts that Denmark ‘it will be the first country in the world to introduce a real CO2 tax on agriculture‘, with a view to climate neutrality by 2045. And he hopes that other countries will follow suit. (1)

Denmark meanwhile it has already allocated €8,1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. That is, weapons for high-intensity conflicts, built to devastate territories and exterminate human beings through explosions. (2) What climate neutrality?

European citizens, meanwhile, pay.

Dario Dongo