Why Denmark has taxed cattle burps and farts

Here is a look at what the tax is, and how livestock contributes to climate change.

What is the tax?

According to the proposal, farmers would pay about $43 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent produced by their livestock. The tax would jump to around $108 in 2035. “However, because of an income tax deduction of 60%, the actual cost per ton will start at 120 kroner ($17.3) and increase to 300 kroner [$43] by 2035,” according to a report by the Associated Press.

The money collected through the proposed tax between 2030 and 2031 will be returned to the industry to support its green transition, with the handling of proceeds to be revisited in 2032. The proposal also includes the development of more than 600,000 acres of new forest areas, among other things.

How do cows and sheeps produce methane?

Ruminant species are hoofed grazing or browsing herbivores that chew cud. Ruminants such as cows, sheep, goats, and buffaloes have a special type of digestive system that allows them to break down and digest food that non-ruminant species would be unable to digest.

Stomachs of ruminant animals have four compartments, one of which, the rumen, helps them to store partially digested food and let it ferment. This partially digested and fermented food is regurgitated by the animals who chew through it again and finish the digestive process.

However, as grass and other vegetation ferments in the rumen, it generates methane. Ruminant animals such as cows and sheep release this methane mainly through burping and farting.

Given the very large numbers of cattle and sheep on farms in dairy-producing countries, these emissions add up to a significant volume. It is estimated that the ruminant digestive system is responsible for 27% of all methane emissions from human activity.

Why are methane emissions a problem?

Methane is one of the main drivers of climate change, responsible for 30% of the warming since preindustrial times, second only to carbon dioxide. Over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme.

It’s also the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the Earth’s surface. According to a 2022 report, exposure to ground-level ozone could be contributing to 1 million premature deaths every year.

Several studies have shown that in recent years, the amount of methane in the atmosphere has dramatically shot up. In 2022, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the atmospheric levels of methane jumped 17 parts per billion in 2021, beating the previous record set in 2020.

“While carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for much longer than methane, methane is roughly 25 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and has an important short-term influence on the rate of climate change”, the agency said.