Will the Government’s ‘Flatulence Tax’ Succeed?
Denmark’s leaders and citizens are dedicated to being “green” and throttling down greenhouse gas emissions. Their country ranks highest in green policies as measured by the independent Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
In 2022, the Copenhagen government proposed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 instead of 2050 and to reduce CO2 emissions nationally by 110%—reaching a negative level in 2050 compared with 1990 levels.
Already, Denmark produces 50% of its electricity using wind turbines and solar farms and generates other kinds of green energy to meet the government’s benchmark of phasing out all fossil fuel use by 2030. “Besides wind and solar, we have a large share of biomass in the electricity sector,” says Peter Jørgensen, vice president of Energinet, the state-owned utility that runs Denmark’s electric and natural gas transmission systems. “So, in Denmark, we are already supplying about two-thirds of the electricity demand from renewable energy.”
But there is one area of concern: the massive amounts of methane emissions—burps and flatulence—from the nation’s extensive livestock farming sector.
As part of Denmark’s upcoming plans, it is implementing a methane reduction program in 2030. It is an unprecedented approach and is being closely watched.
Transitioning to Green Agriculture
Denmark is a flat country ideally suited for agriculture. Its farms contain the world’s highest number of pigs per capita (around 13 million to 15 million pigs compared to 5.9 million Danes, which equals 2.2–2.5 pigs per person). Denmark is also a major dairy producer and exporter, famous for its cheeses and butter.
As gauged by the CCPI survey, the country’s green performance was boosted on June 24, 2024, when Denmark’s agricultural/industrial and governmental sectors and environmental groups negotiated the Green Tripartite Agreement, called “Agreement on a Green Denmark.”
It significantly reduces agricultural greenhouse gas discharges. On November 18, 2024, the Danish government committed €5.76 billion ($5.9 billion) to implement this basic framework, which:
introduces the world's first carbon tax on livestock
incentivizes the reduction of nitrogen pollution
undertakes large-scale land conversion to create new forests and natural areas to enhance biodiversity
promotes plant-based foods
This green-transitioning plan will effectively make Denmark a leader in tackling agricultural climate impact by lowering farm emissions.
This green-transitioning plan will effectively make Denmark a leader in tackling agricultural climate impact by lowering farm emissions. “In many larger countries,” Jørgensen says, “Denmark is almost considered a little laboratory. If we compare ourselves to China, with whom we share a lot of the Danish experience, you see Denmark as a small laboratory where we develop and test the new solutions.”
Methane Emissions Reduction
Starting in 2030, the Green Tripartite Agreement’s livestock tax will be based on the methane emissions produced by farmers’ cows, pigs, and sheep. Methane is 28 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas, so reducing its presence in the atmosphere is vital.
The 2016 Paris Agreement aims to decelerate human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases to keep Earth’s surface temperature from rising more than the accord’s 1.5°C to 2°C target. Copenhagen’s impending “flatulence tax” on farm quadrupeds incentivizes farmers to adopt flatulence-reduction practices, such as using feed additives like Bovaer. Studies have found that this substance when included in dairy cows’ feed, can lower methane emissions by as much as 30%. Targeting farm emissions is crucial because livestock production accounts for significant global greenhouse gas discharges (estimates range from 11% to 17% of global GHG).
Carbon Tax on Livestock
Under this livestock tax scheme, pork and dairy producers will not pay anything on the first 60% of average emissions per animal. They pay no tax if they can cut their animals’ emissions by 40% of today’s average. However, for those farms unable to reduce their methane discharges, the government will collect roughly €40 ($41) per ton of emissions (carbon dioxide equivalent) above these average levels in 2030, which will rise to around €100 ($103) in 2035. The taxes will go into a fund to help all farmers transition to a less-polluting business model.
The government will calculate the tax based on several factors. These include:
Animal headcount or the number of animals on a farm, specifically focusing on pigs and cows
Animal categories, such as breeds and types of livestock, which are assigned specific emission factors
Management practices, including feeding regimes, manure management, and the time animals spend outdoors
Raising cattle leads to other environmental damages. For example, grazing lands require deforestation, which removes a chief source of carbon sequestration (trees and forest soil) and promotes soil erosion, which can degrade wetlands, another carbon sink.
Plant-Based Foods
Alongside the carbon tax, the Danish government is actively promoting the consumption of plant-based proteins as a way to reduce overall meat consumption.
The government has declared they strive for “plant-based foods to play a meaningful role in benefiting the development of the food industry and the health of people and the planet.” The theory is that as more people get their daily protein from plants, they demand less beef and pork, and fewer methane-producing farm animals will be needed.
Nitrogen fertilizers, used by a majority of farmers, when excessively used, leach into inland and coastal waters, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen levels, thus creating “dead zones” for aquatic life.
The Green Tripartite Agreement also includes funding for restoring natural habitats and reducing nitrogen pollution from agricultural practices. According to the UN Environment Programme, nitrogen fertilizers, used by a majority of farmers, when excessively used, leach into inland and coastal waters, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen levels, thus creating “dead zones” for aquatic life. These fertilizers release nitrous oxide, a potent global warming gas, and disrupt natural ecosystems by favoring certain plant species over others due to excess nitrogen availability. Denmark is paying its farmers the equivalent of $100 per ton to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Farmland to Forest
Denmark is keen to restore some of its farmland to carbon-storing woodlands. The Green Tripartite Agreement aims to set aside more than 15% of the nation’s agricultural land to create 250,000 hectares (600,000 acres) of new forest and re-flood 140,000 hectares (336,000 acres) of currently farmed peatlands to make them wetlands once again.
Plants within such ecological zones remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, incorporating it into their wood and leaves as they grow. When these plants die, the carbon remains stored in the soil due to slow decomposition rates in these environments, effectively acting as a carbon sink. The government will offer landowners incentive schemes to sell their land to accomplish this restoration to nature, which is expected to improve biodiversity and coastal ecosystems.
Biochar Initiative
The Green Tripartite Agreement includes a pilot biochar initiative. Biochar is organic matter—like food waste, corn stalks, and sewage—that has been turned into something akin to fine-grained, porous bits of charcoal by pyrolysis (high heating under low-oxygen conditions). Biochar locks carbon in place so it will not return to the atmosphere for centuries or millennia. Danish government agencies will promote the spreading of biochar on agricultural land because it improves soil fertility by increasing the soil's ability to retain nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus.
Biochar’s porous charcoal-like particles have a large surface area that acts as a physical trap for these elements, preventing them from leaching from the soil. They enhance water retention, provide habitat for beneficial microbes, and can slightly adjust soil pH depending on the type of organic waste originally used, creating a more optimal environment for plant growth. (See the article "Biochar—Is It Time to Give 'Black Carbon' the Green Light?" The Earth & I, April/May 2023.)
Mixed Reactions
A Danish group called Bæredygtigt Landbrug or Association for Sustainable Agriculture said they were not involved in the green agreement’s negotiations, do not stand behind it, and see the plan as a “sad day” for agriculture in Denmark.
“We recognize that there is a climate problem, and Danish agriculture will help solve it. But we do not believe that this agreement will solve the problems because it will put a damper on green investments in agriculture,” Bæredygtigt Landbrug Chairman Peter Kiær told media outlets in June 2024 when the agreement was released.
Environmentalists are generally pleased with the agreement, but some see a few weaknesses:
The rate of the livestock tax may be too low—only a higher tax will lead to truly structural and cultural changes in Denmark’s entrenched industrial livestock production system.
Although intensive negotiations were held over nitrogen fertilizer use, the agreed reduction is feared to be not nearly enough to clean up the country’s eutrophic coastal and inland waters plagued with excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants.
The restoration of currently used agricultural land to forest and wetland relies on an incentive system that may not be robust enough to encourage farmers to participate.
The reliance on technological solutions like feed additives and biochar that reduce methane could incentivize increased industrial livestock farming.
Despite these issues, a broad coalition of Green Tripartite Agreement backers believe it can be a bold and seminal step toward a truly sustainable agriculture, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and an improvement in national biodiversity.
*Robert Selle is a freelance writer and editor based in Bowie, Maryland.
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