Debates on the border of livestock and climate: the case of Denmark

Meat

Sustainability & Environmental Impact

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 29, 2024

Tridge summary

Denmark is taking significant steps towards achieving climate neutrality, particularly in its agricultural sector, by recommending reduced meat consumption, promoting plant-based foods, and investing in meat substitutes. A proposed 'green tax reform' aims to tax farmers based on their greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging greener practices. This initiative is part of a broader agreement to cut emissions by 2030 through taxes and subsidies for green initiatives, including potential taxes on high-carbon supermarket products. However, there are concerns that a CO2 tax could exacerbate economic inequality, disproportionately affecting lower-income individuals who may struggle to adjust their consumption habits, while wealthier citizens might continue their lifestyles unaffected. This debate underscores the challenges Denmark faces in balancing its climate goals with social equity.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

It could be considered the largest meat exporting country in Europe in relation to its economic size and its high sales of pork. And yet, Denmark leads policies for climate neutrality in Europe and in the world and directs measures for agriculture without, for the moment, there being protests from producers as has happened in other European countries throughout this year. In 2021, the government established dietary suggestions that recommended not exceeding 350 grams of meat consumed weekly, basically one steak or three hamburgers a week. In October they launched a plan to promote plant foods. At the same time, it has allocated $98 million in its budget to the development of plant-based meat substitutes. It is one of the most agricultural countries in Europe and yet producers have not expressed protests now that the government is beginning to advance a tax on greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. In Denmark, the proposal is to introduce a “green tax reform” that ...

Source: Agromeat