Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CLIMATE CRISIS

Dozens of cars left with flat tyres in Copenhagen in apparent climate protest

An international climate activist group has spoken in support of an apparent action in Copenhagen district Frederiksberg on Wednesday in which the tyres of over 100 cars were deflated.

Published: 7 June 2023 16:42 CEST
Dozens of cars left with flat tyres in Copenhagen in apparent climate protest
Illustration photo. Around 100 cars in Frederiksberg have been left with flat tyres in an apparent action by climate activists. Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

The group, which goes by the name “The Tyre Extinguishers”, praised those responsible for deflating the tyres of a large number of cars in Frederiksberg, a district close to central Copenhagen.

“A whopping 120 SUVs hit last night in the Frederiksberg area of the Danish capital region. Great work Danish friends!” a Twitter account believed to belong to the group tweeted.

The tweet also included a photo of a flyer with a message written in Danish, left on a car windscreen.

The flyer reads “WARNING: Your gas guzzler kills”.

The group’s website states that they specifically target high fuel consumption vehicles such as SUVs and four-wheel drive cars.

The activist group’s aim is to “make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4×4 in the world’s urban areas,” it states.

Copenhagen Police confirmed earlier on Wednesday that a large number of cars in Frederiksberg had their tyres deflated.

“We are investigating the vandalism and would like to hear from residents who have seen anything,” they said in a tweet.

Duty officer Martin Kajberg told newspaper Ekstra Bladet that the incident “is similar to something we have seen before”.

Newspaper Berlingske reported in September 2022 that the activist group had been involved in deflating the tyres of larger cars in Frederiksberg.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FARMING

Denmark announces agreement on landmark CO2 tax for agriculture

Denmark’s government has announced an agreement with agriculture and nature conservation groups which could see the introduction of a world-first CO2 emissions tax on farming.

Published: 25 June 2024 12:43 CEST
Denmark announces agreement on landmark CO2 tax for agriculture

The government announced the agreement, which has been months in the making, after reaching consensus with a string of organisations on Monday.

The various groups have agreed that the agriculture industry will from 2030 pay a tax of 300 kroner per ton on its CO2 emissions. The tax will rise to 750 kroner in 2035, according to the text of the agreement, which was presented at a Ministry of Economic Affairs briefing.

The tax is likely to make Denmark the first country in the world to impose an emissions tax on its agriculture sector.

That will be partially offset by a base deduction available to agricultural producers which will also affect their overall tax burdens.

“With a base deduction of 60 percent, this equates to an effective CO2 tax of 120 kroner per ton in 2030 and 300 kroner per ton in 2035,” the text states.

The deduction will give a “continuity with the tax burden, actual financial options and incentives to use them,” it adds.

A new fund, ‘Danmarks Grønne Arealfond’ will also be established under the agreement. Some 40 billion kroner are set aside for the fund for reforestation and other initiatives including extraction of carbon-rich low-lying soils, which contribute to emissions.

With the agreement Denmark can meet its target of a 70 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus said at the briefing.

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

At the briefing, the president of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation (Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, Maria Reumert Gjerding called the deal a “huge step in the right direction”

A Danish CO2 agriculture tax has long been the goal of the coalition government but has faced resistance 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.

Rasmussen said it was “unique” that organisations with missions as different as the Society for Nature Conservation and the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (Landbrug og Fødevarer) had found middle ground on the issue of the CO2 tax.

“This is a Europe where farmers drive into big cities and burn tyres and where climate activists glue themselves to motorways,” he said.

“So you you also have to understand that this is delicate, and you will break it up if you start saying you would rather have more of one thing or the other,” he said.

Parliament has begun its summer recess, meaning the government must wait until autumn to table the necessary bill for the agreement to be implemented.

SHOW COMMENTS