Finnish farmers will have to pay a fee for the potential environmental damage caused by their animals

From 2025, Finland will introduce a levy on environmental damage. According to the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, the idea is that the state will not have to pay for the environmental damage caused by polluters from its budget. It should be noted that this levy is not a fine, i.e. it is not applied for having polluted, but is based on the possible risk of pollution and is always applied. The money raised goes into an Environmental Damage Fund, which will be used, among other things, to compensate for environmental damage and cover the costs of prevention and remediation. This levy applies to heavy industry, such as mining or steel, but the agricultural sector will also be affected by the payment of levies, particularly livestock farmers. According to the Finnish ministry, the fees will apply to pig farms with more than 2,000 places for fattening pigs weighing more than 30 kilograms or more than 750 sows, as well as poultry farms with more than 40,000 places, which will have ...