Denmark to tax dairy farmers for their cows' burps and, uh, other carbon emissions

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Later this year, Denmark's Parliament is expected to approve the world's first carbon tax on agriculture, which will levy an annual tax of roughly $100 on dairy farmers for each of their cows. The recently revealed carbon tax will ramp up to about $240 per cow five years after the tax takes effect in 2030.

Denmark is a major dairy and pork exporter, and agriculture is the country's biggest source of emissions. Overall the global food system is a huge contributor to the climate crisis, producing about a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock farming has a particularly big impact, a share of which is methane that comes out of cows and other animals in the form of burps and manure.

Denmark's cow tax is meant to force the agriculture sector to look for ways to reduce emissions, says the chief economist for Concito, a green think tank in the country. For farmers, that could mean changing their cows' diets. But some in the industry say the new tax is a step in the wrong direction and will punish farmers who already do all they can to shrink their carbon footprint.

While the Danish dairy industry broadly welcomed the new cow carbon tax, some farmers are already up in arms. Environmental regulations were a big driver in farmer protests across Europe earlier this year.

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???? This story is from CNN's Call to Earth, an editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.

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