In a bold move, Denmark has opted to impose a tax on the pollution created by livestock, like cows and pigs, starting in 2030.
The Washington Post reported the new law, which is expected to be approved, would charge farmers about $43 per metric ton (about 2,200 pounds) of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by their animals. The rate goes up to $108 in 2035. However, these fees would be partially offset by a 60% tax deduction, so farmers would pay closer to $17 per metric ton in 2030 and $43 in 2035.
The money raised from 2030-2031 will go toward green initiatives, and this distribution will be revisited in 2032. The bill also calls for establishing more than 600,000 acres of new forest areas, among other things.
Danish officials say the new tax would cut the country's pollution by about two million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030, and it is part of an initiative to lower its planet-heating pollution by 70% of 1990 levels by 2030.
"We will be the first country in the world to introduce a real [carbon dioxide equivalent tax] on agriculture," Danish tax minister Jeppe Bruus said in a statement translated by the Post. "Other countries will be inspired by it."
Scientists estimated that livestock accounted for about 12% of all planet-heating pollution in 2015, per the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A recent study that surveyed 210 climate and food experts asserts that pollution from the livestock sector must be slashed by 61% by 2036 to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The survey respondents said that reducing the production and consumption of livestock products could result in significant progress toward this goal.
On the other side of the world, Argentina is also looking to tackle livestock pollution by implementing a climate-friendly beef certification program centering around silvopasture, a technique of raising livestock in forests with native grasslands and pastures.
Some researchers are pushing for a quirkier alternative: eating python meat, which they say tastes like chicken but is a more climate-friendly solution for some places like southern Africa since pythons turn feed into protein more efficiently than traditional livestock.
You can make a difference, even if you're not ready to sink your teeth into a python. For instance, the plant-slant diet limits meat intake without eliminating it completely. Some of the longest-lived communities in the world follow this diet, which focuses on beans, whole grains, and vegetables.
You can also focus on implementing less carbon-intensive proteins into your diet — for instance, poultry is far less carbon-intensive than beef, and other options include farmed fish, lentils, and even insects.
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