Flatulent livestock to incur green levy in Denmark from 2030

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.