Livestock should be taxed to reduce the contribution made by their flatulence to greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations said on Thursday in a report that will give fresh ammunition to campaigners against the preponderance of meat in the foodchain.
The novel suggestion by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation to use taxation comes as campaigners focus on the impact on climate change of emissions of methane from cattle, sheep and pigs.
“Market-based policies, such as taxes and fees for natural resource use, should cause [livestock] producers to internalise the costs of environmental damages,” the FAO said in its annual report, The State of Food and Agriculture .
“The sector is consuming a large share of the world’s resources and is contributing a significant portion of global greenhouse gases emissions,” the report adds.
The proposal, if supported by governments, could hit companies such as JBS of Brazil, the world’s largest meat producer, and large US-based businesses such as Tyson Foods, Cargill or Smithfield. Governments do not necessarily follow the FAO’s recommendations, but its views carry some weight, particularly among European policymakers.
Financial Times
How do you think this will go over with the Mississippi Cattleman's Association? Al Gore will probably want to speak at the next banquet.
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