Agreement reached over CO2 tax on agriculture 

The government last night announced a tripartite agreement with interest organisations related to the agricultural sector, which could see the introduction of a CO2 emissions tax on the industry.

Such a tax has long been the goal of the coalition, but has faced opposition from farmers and from some opposition parties, as well as from interest organisations for the sector. That an agreement has now been reached at all was praised by Moderate Party leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who urged parliament to vote through the “delicate” deal in its current form.

Now the agreement has been reached, Denmark can its target of a 70 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus said at a briefing to present the agreement.

“This is the last political agreement needed for us to reach our 70 percent target in 2030. It’s a landmark,” he said.

We’ll have more detail on the contents of the agreement in a separate article on our website today.

Vocabulary: landbrug – agriculture

One in four has stocked up on water after announcement

Around a quarter of households have stocked three days’ supplies of water after advice was issued by authorities earlier this month to keep stores in case of a crisis.

A survey for newswire Ritzau by the Voxmeter institute found that around a quarter have already followed the guidelines. Over 1,000 people answered the survey, which was conducted between 6 and 9 days after the announcement.

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Some 26 percent said they have sufficient stocks of both food and water, while 72 percent said they did not.

Vocabulary: hver fjerde – one in four

Roskilde Festival to spend 30 million kroner on new stage

The Roskilde Festival’s iconic Orange Stage, which has been symbolic of the annual event for decades, could be replaced by a newer, larger version at a cost of 30 million kroner, newspaper Politken reports.

“[The stage] must be able to accommodate anything big artists bring with them when they tour the biggest arenas in Europe. This means more width, height, depth and greater load capacity for screens and lights,” Roskilde Festival programme directo Anders Wahrén told the newspaper.

This year’s Roskilde Festival starts on June 29th.

Organisers have previously had to scale back some concerts because of a lack of space on the Orange Stage.

Vocabulary: at rumme – to accommodate

Odense mayor wants to find money for struggling light rail

The Mayor of Odense, Peter Rahbæk Juel, wants to find 270 million kroner from the city’s budget to relieve financial problems faced by the Odense Light Rail and other parts of the public transportation system.

Both Odense Letbane and the Fynbus city buses in Denmark’s third city need additional funds to meet running costs in 2025 and 2026, according to local reports.

“If you don’t have the nerve to back a finance plan, that’s the same as abolishing the bus and the light rail. And I don’t want to do that,” Juel said to Fyens Stiftstidende.

The money would come from a surplus in the 2023 municipal budget and not be taken from schools, he said.

Vocabulary: at afvikle – to abolish