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www.telegraph.co.uk
Government already working on new levies for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming, reveals Environment Secretary
The farming minister has signalled his support for meat taxes, in an interview with The Telegraph.
On the eve of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, George Eustice has said that the UK will need to “move into the realms of things like carbon taxes” when existing EU agricultural subsidies are finally phased out.
Mr Eustice, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, disclosed that the Government was already working on a new tax system for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming, such as meat and dairy.
By placing levies on high polluters, such a move could help cut down emissions, and is also likely to help British farmers compete with post-Brexit imports.
Any new tax could, however, raise the price of red meat. Mr Eustice said that according to the Government’s own modelling, prices were already set to increase in real terms by 10 per cent over the next five years.
Mr Eustice told The Telegraph that a planned restructuring of the £3.5 billion EU agricultural subsidies would encourage farmers to produce higher-welfare and more environmentally friendly food over the next seven years.
But he added: “Beyond that, you then start to move into the realms of things like carbon taxes. But we need to do the thinking about it now.”
It comes as Boris Johnson warned that civilisation could fall once again like the Roman Empire if the world failed to make sufficient progress on curbing climate change.
Speaking on Friday night as he landed in Rome for the G20 summit, the Prime Minister said being in the Eternal City should serve as a “fantastic reminder” and a “memento mori” that societies could go “backwards as well as forwards”.
“You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and I’m afraid to say it’s true today, that unless we get this right in tackling climate change we could see our civilisation, our wo
Mr Johnson then deployed a football analogy to warn that humanity was currently “5-1 down” at half-time against the “formidable opponent” that is global warming.
The new carbon taxation system raised by Mr Eustice would be introduced after 2027, by which time the Brexit transition period for agricultural subsidies would have come to an end.
He said carbon border taxes would also be brought in and their purpose “would be to encourage countries like Australia, like New Zealand, to tackle their own greenhouse gas emissions”.
Mr Eustice said: “If there are other countries in the world that don’t pull their weight, and don’t do their share, you know, at some point you will have to find a way of reflecting that in international trade.”
He said: “The Treasury and BEIS [the business department] are doing a piece of work on this. Ideally for it to work obviously it would be agreed multilaterally.”
He added: “All of this is supposes that you would move in the direction of carbon emissions trading” first in the UK agriculture sector.
George Eustice claims the taxes would mean British meat was cheaper for consumers than imports
If such a taxation system was brought in, British meat was likely to be cheaper for consumers than imports because it would be less polluting.
British farmers have accused the Government of undermining efforts to produce more environmentally friendly food in its trade deals with New Zealand and Australia.
Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union said: “We are opening our doors to the potential for significant extra volumes of food to be imported here – whether or not produced to our own high standards – to the detriment of British farming and the future of food production here.”
But Mr Eustice argued that although the trade deals may lead to increased imports, they were likely to displace others from the EU. He added that quota-free tariffs on agricultural imports would only be phased in over 15 years, during which time consumer preferences may switch to high-welfare British produce.
In his Telegraph interview, Mr Eustice denied it would be necessary to switch to a vegan diet, but did suggest people should eat less meat that was better quality.
A new taxation system for carbon intensive food production would put a set price on each tonne of greenhouse gas emissions produced. The tax would act as an incentive for the food industry to reduce emissions and for the public to eat less meat.
Similar taxes are already applied in the UK on heavy industry and electricity supply.
The Government was criticised this week by its climate change advisers, the CCC, for avoiding the question of dietary changes in its recent net zero strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
The net zero strategy instead relies on “emerging technology”, such as feed additives made from seaweed to cut methane from ruminants, which accounts for around five per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Eustice also told The Telegraph that restaurants needed to be encouraged to better label their menus so diners understood where their food was from and how it was produced.
“We’ve taken powers in the agriculture bill to look at whether we can strengthen mandatory food labelling around things like methods of production,” he said. “We don’t rule out seeking to do that on the service trade as well. It would be menu labelling, it would be harder to do.”
Meat taxes will make British farmers go greener, says George Eustice
Government already working on new levies for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming, reveals Environment Secretary
www.telegraph.co.uk
Meat taxes will make British farmers go greener, says George Eustice
Government already working on new levies for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming, reveals Environment Secretary
The farming minister has signalled his support for meat taxes, in an interview with The Telegraph.
On the eve of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, George Eustice has said that the UK will need to “move into the realms of things like carbon taxes” when existing EU agricultural subsidies are finally phased out.
Mr Eustice, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, disclosed that the Government was already working on a new tax system for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming, such as meat and dairy.
By placing levies on high polluters, such a move could help cut down emissions, and is also likely to help British farmers compete with post-Brexit imports.
Any new tax could, however, raise the price of red meat. Mr Eustice said that according to the Government’s own modelling, prices were already set to increase in real terms by 10 per cent over the next five years.
Mr Eustice told The Telegraph that a planned restructuring of the £3.5 billion EU agricultural subsidies would encourage farmers to produce higher-welfare and more environmentally friendly food over the next seven years.
But he added: “Beyond that, you then start to move into the realms of things like carbon taxes. But we need to do the thinking about it now.”
It comes as Boris Johnson warned that civilisation could fall once again like the Roman Empire if the world failed to make sufficient progress on curbing climate change.
Speaking on Friday night as he landed in Rome for the G20 summit, the Prime Minister said being in the Eternal City should serve as a “fantastic reminder” and a “memento mori” that societies could go “backwards as well as forwards”.
“You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and I’m afraid to say it’s true today, that unless we get this right in tackling climate change we could see our civilisation, our wo
Mr Johnson then deployed a football analogy to warn that humanity was currently “5-1 down” at half-time against the “formidable opponent” that is global warming.
The new carbon taxation system raised by Mr Eustice would be introduced after 2027, by which time the Brexit transition period for agricultural subsidies would have come to an end.
He said carbon border taxes would also be brought in and their purpose “would be to encourage countries like Australia, like New Zealand, to tackle their own greenhouse gas emissions”.
Mr Eustice said: “If there are other countries in the world that don’t pull their weight, and don’t do their share, you know, at some point you will have to find a way of reflecting that in international trade.”
He said: “The Treasury and BEIS [the business department] are doing a piece of work on this. Ideally for it to work obviously it would be agreed multilaterally.”
He added: “All of this is supposes that you would move in the direction of carbon emissions trading” first in the UK agriculture sector.
George Eustice claims the taxes would mean British meat was cheaper for consumers than imports
If such a taxation system was brought in, British meat was likely to be cheaper for consumers than imports because it would be less polluting.
British farmers have accused the Government of undermining efforts to produce more environmentally friendly food in its trade deals with New Zealand and Australia.
Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union said: “We are opening our doors to the potential for significant extra volumes of food to be imported here – whether or not produced to our own high standards – to the detriment of British farming and the future of food production here.”
But Mr Eustice argued that although the trade deals may lead to increased imports, they were likely to displace others from the EU. He added that quota-free tariffs on agricultural imports would only be phased in over 15 years, during which time consumer preferences may switch to high-welfare British produce.
In his Telegraph interview, Mr Eustice denied it would be necessary to switch to a vegan diet, but did suggest people should eat less meat that was better quality.
A new taxation system for carbon intensive food production would put a set price on each tonne of greenhouse gas emissions produced. The tax would act as an incentive for the food industry to reduce emissions and for the public to eat less meat.
Similar taxes are already applied in the UK on heavy industry and electricity supply.
The Government was criticised this week by its climate change advisers, the CCC, for avoiding the question of dietary changes in its recent net zero strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
The net zero strategy instead relies on “emerging technology”, such as feed additives made from seaweed to cut methane from ruminants, which accounts for around five per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Eustice also told The Telegraph that restaurants needed to be encouraged to better label their menus so diners understood where their food was from and how it was produced.
“We’ve taken powers in the agriculture bill to look at whether we can strengthen mandatory food labelling around things like methods of production,” he said. “We don’t rule out seeking to do that on the service trade as well. It would be menu labelling, it would be harder to do.”
