A two-year-old investment network, Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return, says in a report that countries could begin taxing meat to drive down consumption and meet their goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reports Civil Eats. A meat tax would resemble levies on sugar, alcohol, and tobacco, and would have a similar goal of boosting public health.
Meat taxes have been discussed in a handful of European countries, but so far no one has turned the idea into law. FAIRR points to estimates of rising emissions from agriculture as the world population grows and as people seek richer diets as their incomes improve. “We think, in the absence of other interventions, this is one that should be in the basket of tools,” says FAIRR Director Maria Lettini in the Civil Eats story.
FAIRR “has a clear objective of steering its investor network, which it describes as managing $4 trillion in assets, away from factory farming over animal welfare concerns,” says Civil Eats. “Its report acknowledges the concept of a meat tax is ‘at an embryonic stage,’ but says ‘it is on a clear path that ends with taxation in some form.’ ”