Denmark’s parliament recently passed a so-called tripartite green deal, agreed between the agricultural lobby, trade unions in the agricultural and food sector, and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation. Especially attracting international attention is its promise to implement a carbon tax on agriculture and turn 15 percent of agricultural land into forests and natural habitats. The new minister responsible for the deal fed the hype, claiming that “Danish nature will change in a way we have not seen since the wetlands were drained in 1864.”
The tax signals a shift in climate policies, which have long evaded dealing with agriculture’s contribution to global warming. Understandably, the primary focus has been on the leading cause of the planetary crisis: the fossil industry. However, agriculture and food production are deeply intertwined with fossil industries and infrastructure. They directly emit potent greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, many times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Today, food and agriculture account for at least a quarter of global emissions. In Denmark, however, this share exceeds one-third, and rising. It is Danish agriculture’s focus on animal production for export that makes it especially inefficient. To sustain its substantial pig meat and dairy exports, it relies heavily on protein-rich fodder, which requires significant land use in other countries. It produces less protein than it consumes. As the nation with the highest number of pigs per capita worldwide, Danish farming also pollutes waterways and marine ecosystems through nutrient runoff caused by the application of animal fertilizer.
The tax signals a shift in climate policies, which have long evaded dealing with agriculture’s…
Auteur: Esben Bøgh Sørensen
