COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark’s government on Wednesday proposed introducing a uniform carbon tax for companies as a way to reach the country’s ambitious climate target.
The proposed carbon tax of 1,125 Danish crowns ($164.21) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent would cut carbon emissions by 3.7 million tonnes per year by 2030, the government said.
The tax, which includes a projected 2030 price of EU carbon permits of 750 Danish crowns per tonne, would be imposed on heavy industries and the energy sector, it said.
For smaller companies that are not part of the EU emissions trading system, the government proposed a tax of 750 crowns per tonne.
“This initiative is meant to ensure that the companies that impact the climate pay for their own emissions,” Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus said.
The government also proposed spending 7 billion crowns to help companies with the green transition, thus minimizing the risk that they move abroad to avoid the carbon tax, Bruus said.
The proposal would provide a reduced tax rate for cement and stone wool industries, which include Denmark’s biggest polluter, cement producer Aalborg Portland.
The measure could help Denmark, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, to achieve its 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels, or around 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
($1 = 6.8508 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
