A liability for the climate impact of foods for financing negative emissions

Meeting the Paris Agreement's temperature objective requires the removal of significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere, highlighting the urgent need for financing negative emission technologies. Given the difficulties in mitigating agricultural emissions, this paper proposes a “food climate liability fee.” The fee is based on the climate impact of food combined with an estimated cost-level of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and the generated income is earmarked for funding CO 2 removals. We explore the effects of implementing this fee using Sweden as an example, analyzing scenarios ranging from including all food-related emissions to a fee specifically on the harder-to-mitigate methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from high-impact animal-based foods. Targeting all emissions could generate sufficient financing for removals to balance emissions from Swedish food consumption. A more focused fee on high-impact foods could cover 85% of CH 4 and N 2 O food-related emissions, of relevance if CO 2 emissions are addressed through other means.