The environmental, economic and societal implications of a green tax policy on nitrogen fertilizer

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cause climate change.

The use of environmental taxes is widely recognized for reducing GHG emissions, but there is limited research on their effectiveness in agriculture.

Additionally, there is limited understanding of their economic impacts on farm businesses, farmers` acceptance, and their effects on consumers.

This knowledge is essential for enriching the available policies to meet GHG reduction targets in Europe by 2030, 2040, and ultimately achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

This project focuses on how an environmental tax on mineral nitrogen can reduce GHG emissions, specifically in the Swedish context.

Also, it examines the tax`s economic impacts on farm businesses, barriers and motivations for farmers acceptance, and the implications of the tax burden on consumers.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, it integrates insights from economics, agriculture, and environmental sciences, with the analyses based on economic, environmental, and survey data, as well as qualitative insights from interviews.

The project addresses questions to create new knowledge regarding: i) the effectiveness of an environmental tax on mineral nitrogen for GHG mitigation, ii) the trade-offs between different tax levels, crop yields, farm business profits, and farmers willingness for accepting such a tax, iii) the equity of the tax burden on households, and iv) stakeholder perspectives.