Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter, will introduce a tax on livestock carbon dioxide emissions from 2030, making it the first country to do so and hoping to inspire others to follow, the government said on Tuesday.
A tax was first proposed in February by government-commissioned experts to help Denmark reach a legally binding 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels.
The centrist government late on Monday reached a wide-ranging compromise with farmers, industry, labour unions and environmental groups on policy linked to farming, the country’s largest source of CO2 emissions.
“We will be the first country in the world to introduce a real CO2 tax on agriculture. Other countries will be inspired by this,” Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus of the centre-left Social Democrats said in a statement on Tuesday.