While climate change falls further down the list of governmental priorities in the U.S.,  an Oxford University team says climate change effects could be mitigated with higher taxes on beef and dairy products.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that taxing beef at 40 percent and milk at 20 would pay for the damage their production causes the earth's climate.

Food production produces a quarter of the total greenhouse gas emissions, according to The Guardian – or somewhere closer to 33 percent, according to a 2012 study in Nature. And those numbers are increasing globally.

The Oxford University tax plan would reduce beef production emissions by 600 million tons per year, and dairy production emissions by 200 million tons.

Most foods with big climate impacts are also unhealthy when consumed in large quantities, making the Oxford study a "win-win" situation for climate change and consumer health.

The goal is similar to that of soda taxes recently implemented in Mexico and two U.S. cities:Â higher beef and dairy taxes would deter people from purchasing and ultimately consuming the product, positively impacting their health in the long run. Specifically, the study says a 40 percent increase in beef price would lead to a 13 percent decrease in consumption.

The study bases the tax for each product on the amount of money required to compensate for the climate damage caused by its production, taking into account feed, waste, and global transportation.

The research found the taxes needed to compensate for climate damage were 15 percent on lamb, 8.5 percent on chicken, 7 percent on pork and 5 percent on eggs. Vegetable oil required a large tax of 25 percent, but because of the low initial price of the product, the overall cost remains affordable.

Concerned about the taxes' outcome for low-income people? Never fear. The researchers also accounted for different consumer income brackets by finding the "optimum arrangement in terms of both emissions and health" by combining taxes with subsidies for fruits and vegetables, ensuring income-vulnerable people don't end up without access to beef and dairy products.

With a U.S. president-elect who thinks climate change is a hoax perpetuated by China, it's unlikely new any emissions policies will get the time of day, at least in this country. But Sarah Boumphrey, Global Lead of Economies and Consumers at Euromonitor, told CNBC that isn't likely to last forever.

"Having said that, the agricultural sector is going to come increasingly under the spotlight as an important contributor to global emissions, one which has thus far avoided much of the attention that other sectors – such as transport – have been exposed to," she added.

Read More:

• Tax meat and dairy to cut emissions and save lives, study urges (The Guardian)
• A global tax on meat and milk would reduce greenhouse emissions: Research (CNBC)