Future governments could look to tax meat in efforts to counter environmental and health concerns associated with high rates of meat consumption, according to research from the Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return investor network.
In a warning to investors, the group, which comprises copanies that manage more than US$4 trillion in assets, said it is “increasingly probable” that implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change will lead some governments to taxing meat in a similar way to current taxes on tobacco, carbon, and sugar.
While no legislation is currently in place anywhere in the world, debates are taking place in some countries, including Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.
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“Behavioural taxes are increasingly common. That’s why we’ve seen 16 countries adopt a sugar tax in recent years,” Jeremy Coller of Coller Capital and Founder of the FAIRR Initiative said in a news release.
“The damage the meat industry causes to our health and environment make it very exposed to similar levies, and it is increasingly probable we’ll see meat taxes become a reality.”
The FAIRR white paper, entitled The Livestock Levy, finds that meat is on a similar path as other products being hit with “behavioural taxes.”
“If policymakers are to cover the true cost of livestock epidemics like avian flu and human epidemics like obesity, diabetes and cancer, while also tackling the twin challenges of climate change and antibiotic resistance, then a shift from subsidization to taxation of the meat industry looks inevitable,” said Coller.
