Denmark charges farmers per cow to reduce emissions

Denmark is going to start charging farmers €100 a cow in a new tax on livestock emissions – a world-first CO2 levy on agriculture. The deal which was reached late on Monday between the government and farmers, labour unions and environmental groups. It proposes taxing farmers 300 Danish crowns (£34) per tonne of CO2 from 2030, increasing to 750 crowns by 2035. But farmers will get a 60 per cent discount initially and receive incentives to reduce emissions – the €100 figure per cow is based on the lower rate, according to the FT. To note: Denmark is a major dairy and pork exporter and has a legally binding target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030. To watch: can it duck the farmers’ protests that have spread across the EU against other environmental policies?