Leading political parties do not want to introduce a climate-friendly tax on methane emissions from cattle

When the Tax Commission presented its proposal to the government at the start of February one of the more controversial measures was the introduction of an agricultural methane tax.

The commission estimated that a single cow releases the equivalent of 4 tonnes of CO2 every year by passing gas. This is compared to the emissions from an average-sized car, which are estimated to be 2.7 tonnes.

The Agricultural Council has been lobbying against the proposal since it was announced and calculated that the methane tax and other commission proposals will increase costs for the agriculture industry by 2.4 to 2.7 billion kroner annually. In comparison, the commission said that introducing a methane tax will fill the state coffers with 500 million kroner a year.

However, both the agriculture spokespeople for the government’s Liberal Party and the Danish People’s Party (DF) have come out against the methane tax proposal.

DF’s Jørn Dohrmann feared that the methane tax would increase the prices of domestic agricultural produce.

‘While the agricultural industry should contribute to solving the climate problems, a methane tax should not be levied in a way that does not make sense. It will be a catastrophe for Danish production, giving products from other countries free rein,’ said Dohrmann.

Tina Nedegaard, of the Liberal Party, said that a tax should not be levelled on the Danish agricultural industry that would make it anti-competitive.

‘I am not in total agreement with the proposal for the simple reason that cows need to break wind, whereas machines do not have to pollute’ said Nedegaard.

Commission chairman Carsten Koch maintained that the tax was necessary if Denmark is to live up to its ‘ambitious climate plan’ and stated that the agricultural sector should not be treated differently to any other industry when it comes to emissions obligations.

The government’s minority coalition party, the Conservatives, chose not to comment on the commission’s tax initiatives until the government presents its own proposals next week.