By Eva Riemer
Last week, Danish grandparents for Climate and other climate activists took to the streets with flyers, campaigning for a CO2 tax on agriculture.
This happened because the Danish Government is currently negotiating with the Danish Agriculture and Food Council and a number of other NGOs about the introduction of a CO2 tax. As in other European countries, the largest agricultural organizations are strongly opposed to such tax on agriculture.
76% of the Danish agricultural area is used to make food for animals. We must future proof agriculture by producing more food for people instead.
In the conversation with passers-by, the activists
explained that Danish agriculture could produce food for four times as many people by growing plant-based food to a greater extent.
A CO2 tax would lead to structural restructuring of agriculture. This means fewer livestock and less manure is produced. Currently, manure is spread out on the fields, resulting in nitrogen from the slurry ending up in the inland waters. Therefore, Denmark’s inland waters are now dead. There is a need for a revival of the Danish fjords and seas, but industrial meat production stands in the way.
With a CO2 tax on agriculture, we can ensure that the polluter (agriculture) pays for his pollution. The revenue from the CO2 tax will be used to develop sustainable agriculture.