From 2030, Danish agriculture will be subject to a CO2 tax.
This is what the government and a large number of interest organizations agreed on Monday evening in the green tripartite agreement. This appears from the text of the agreement, which the parties presented at a press conference in the Ministry of Economy.
The parties agree that from 2030 agriculture must pay DKK 300 per tonne in CO2 tax. The tax will then rise to DKK 750 per tonne in 2035.
But there will also be a basic deduction for agriculture, which will change the real tax rates.
- With a floor deduction of 60 percent, this corresponds to the effective tax rates amounting to DKK 120 per ton of CO2 in 2030 and DKK 300 per ton of CO2 in 2035 , reads the text of the agreement.
The basic deduction must be introduced so that there is "a connection between the tax burden, the actual trading options and the incentive to use them".
In 2030 and 2031, the revenue from the CO2 tax will go to investments in climate technology and production restructuring targeting the farmers who are "hit the hardest" and have "difficulty adapting".
Economics Minister Stephanie Lose (V) says at the press conference that the green tripartite agreement lays the foundation for Denmark to reach the 2030 target, and that a better nature and water environment is ensured, but also "good space for good and solid food production."< /p>
New land use
The green tripartite agreement also includes the establishment of a fund with the name Danmarks Grønne Arealfond. DKK 40 billion must be allocated here, which the government now "must work for" can be found.
The billions are to be used, among other things, for 250,000 hectares of forest to be planted up to 2045.
In addition, there must be "strategic land acquisition", and support must be given for the extraction of 140,000 hectares of low-lying land up to 2030.
- With the establishment of the Danmark Grønne Arealfond, we are setting aside DKK 40 billion for a huge restructuring of the Denmark map, says Stephanie Lose.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) states that it is an agreement that "does not go away".
- As a politician, you have to be careful about using paraphrases and saying that it is historical. I will just have to say on my own behalf that I have lived a long time, but I do not remember having made an agreement with political awareness that what we have agreed today is something that stands, he says.
Taxes Minister Jeppe Bruus (S) takes it further and calls the agreement "world history".
Incredibly delicate balances
The agreement in the green tripartite comes after a year-long process on CO2 taxes.
Back in December 2020, the Folketing adopted a green tax reform that entrusted the design of specific CO2 taxes to an expert committee with prominent economists.
This initially led to the fact that in the summer of 2022 the Danish Parliament could adopt a CO2 tax of DKK 750 per ton of CO2 for the industry.
Since then, the tax on agricultural emissions has been postponed time and time again. The expert committee itself has needed more time, just as the creation of the green tripartite has dragged on.
The three parties were born at the end of 2023 as an attempt by the Liberal Party to jointly resolve the fundamental disagreements about climate regulation in agriculture.
Among the interest organizations in the green tripartite are Agriculture & Food and Denmark's Nature Conservation Association.
Even if the three parties have reached an agreement on an agreement, it must still be presented and adopted in the Folketing. It will only be on the other side of the summer holidays, when the Danish Parliament opens up for the legislative process again.
- Now we are very much looking forward to being able to have a good dialogue with the parties of the Folketing about the further process from here, with the hope that we can also find the incredibly delicate balance there, says Stephanie Lose.
The main points of the agreement here:
- Reductions of greenhouse gas emissions for 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 in 2030 – and potential for up to 2.6 million tonnes.
- A CO2 tax on emissions from livestock. A tax of DKK 300 per tonne of CO2 will be introduced in 2030, rising to DKK 750 per tonne of CO2 in 2035 with a floor deduction of 60 percent. The effective tax will thus amount to DKK 120 per tonne in 2030, rising to DKK 300 per tonne in 2035.
- Reversion of proceeds to the profession: The proceeds from the livestock tax in 2030-31 are returned as a transition support pool, which must support the profession's green transition. Handling of the proceeds will be revisited in 2032.
- Establishment of Denmark's Green Area Fund, which will include activities worth approximately DKK 40 billion.
- Establishment of 250,000 hectares of forest (equivalent to an area the size of Lolland-Falster and Bornholm).
- Removal of 140,000 hectares of carbon-rich lowland soils, including marginal areas.
- A target of at least 20 percent protected nature. The construction of 80,000 hectares of private virgin forest, 20,000 hectares of state forest and the removal of low-lying land will significantly increase the extent of protected nature.
- Subsidy scheme totaling just over DKK 10 billion until 2045 for storage of biochar produced by pyrolysis.
- Paradigm shift in the nitrogen effort, where land conversion is the main engine to achieve the goals of the EU's water framework directive.
- Fee lifting for slaughterhouses for DKK 45 million annually with effect from 2029 and a pool for upskilling of a total of DKK 100 million over the period 2027-30.
Source: Ministry of Economy.
/ritzau/mar
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
