Tax on greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture or how crazy are the Danes?

With a historic trilateral agreement, Denmark is preparing to fundamentally change the relationship between agriculture and climate. Signed a year ago with broad political consensus, it marks the beginning of the world's first carbon tax on agricultural emissions – a step that is already attracting the attention of all of Europe. "We agreed that 15% of agricultural land will be transformed into forests and natural areas. This is part of the solution for our future," explains Niels Peter Noerring, Climate Director at the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC) and one of the key participants in the process. We meet him in Copenhagen, at the invitation of DG Agri. How did the farmers accept the idea? Noerring admits that skepticism towards such a reform was high. "My colleagues from Europe often ask how the farmers agreed at all. The truth is that we all worked very hard to reach a final agreement. This is not about coercion, but about a vision for the future," he says, adding with ...