World’s first emissions tax on agriculture will require farmers to pay for greenhouse gas pollution from livestock

Farmers in Denmark will have to pay for planet-heating pollutants that their cattle expel as gas, after the government agreed to set the world’s first emissions tax on agriculture.

The agreement – reached on Monday night after months of fraught negotiations between farmers, industry, politicians and environmental groups – will introduce an effective tax of 120 kroner (£14) per ton of greenhouse gas pollution from livestock in 2030, which will rise to 300 kroner per ton in 2035.

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© Photograph: Wayne HUTCHINSON/Alamy

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© Photograph: Wayne HUTCHINSON/Alamy

Huge die-offs of elephant seals occurred after the virus gained nearly 20 troublesome new mutations, scientists found.

The worker had respiratory symptoms, unlike the first two. But the risk to the public remains low, federal health officials said.

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Muscle from a sick dairy cow tested positive for the virus. The meat did not enter the commercial food supply, which officials said remained safe.

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The results bolster evidence that virus-laden raw milk may be unsafe for humans.

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The new case, in a Michigan farmworker, did not suggest that bird flu was widespread in people, health officials said, adding that the risk to the general public remained low.

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Tens of millions of farm animals cross state lines every year, traveling in cramped, stressful conditions that can facilitate the spread of disease.

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A genetic analysis sheds light on when the outbreak began, how the virus spread and where it may be going.

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But the scope of the outbreak among cattle remains uncertain, and little human testing has been done.

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