Denmark

Denmark’s climate approach is focused on the integration of climate change mitigation measures into policy sectors alongside single-purpose climate policies. Domestic policy is closely linked to the implementation of international commitments under the UNFCCC, especially the Kyoto Protocol, and the fulfillment of burden-sharing commitments within European Union climate change policy.

The environment ministry followed an environmental policy integration approach throughout the 1990s and 2000s in response to the 1988 Brundtland report on sustainable development for the UN, focusing on the integration of environmental objectives into other sectoral policies via action plans.

As well as promoting a greener and more sustainable society, the government has a goal of achieving independence from fossil fuels. To help achieve this, the climate policy portfolios of the Ministry of the Environment and the energy policy portfolios of the Ministry of Transport and Energy were merged into the Ministry of Climate and Energy in 2007, reflecting the increasing importance of addressing climate change and intensifying the preparation of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in 2009.

Most climate change-related legislation relates to implementation of EU legislation or sector action plans that also address climate change mitigation (and to a lesser extent climate change adaptation). Sector action plans outline specific environmental objectives and measures to achieve the objectives and deadlines, which allow the evaluation of their effectiveness.

In 2011, the present government set a national GHG reduction target of 40% reduction by 2020 compared to 1990 levels – a target which in 2014 was endorsed in a political agreement struck by a majority in Parliament. The 40% reduction target goes beyond international and EU commitments, underlining Denmark’s leadership approach on climate change. In particular, Denmark aspires to convert the energy and transportation sector to run on 100% renewable energy by 2050 and strongly improve energy efficiency. The 2012 Energy Agreement and the 2013 Climate Policy Plan was followed up in 2014 by a Climate Change Act. The Climate Change Act aims to establish an overall strategic framework for the National Climate Policy to achieve a low carbon society by 2050. This Act further enabled the pathway to establish an independent Climate Council to promote an academically coherent approach to national climate policy, mandated the Minister in charge to publish a report on climate policy and present proposals for new national climate targets to Parliament at least every fifth year with a 10-year perspective.

Local authorities and municipalities implement state-level framework legislation by deciding on and planning appropriate initiatives. Local involvement and public participation in environmental and climate change aspects was also strengthened in response to the implementation of the Agenda 21 (adopted at the 1992 UNCSD Rio conference) and the Aarhus Convention. Hosting the 2009 climate change summit of the UNFCCC (COP-15) motivated several municipalities and sub-national actors to set their own climate targets. It also coincided with initiatives to raise awareness among the business community, cities and the population.

There is a long list of institutions, programmes and initiatives that receive support for research and development activities on climate change mitigation and adaptation. This includes basic climate change-focused research such as climate modelling and applied research on how to achieve emission reductions in different sectors, including demonstration projects. Funds are distributed on a competitive basis and include tenders on specific problems and defined projects as well as grants supporting research, particularly at universities. Concrete development projects delivered energy savings, improved efficiency in energy conversion and cost-effective renewable energy technologies that benefit Danish companies.

Energy supply

Energy production and supply accounts for approximately 46% of GHG emissions (2013). Parliament has passed an energy agreement supporting the uptake of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, whereby Denmark is expected to overfulfil the obligation to increase the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption to 30% by 2020. The focus is on wind energy, biomass and solar energy. Laws have also been passed laws in the areas of electricity (a further development from the Renewable Electricity Directive), heating/cooling and renewable energies in transportation (a further development from the Biofuels Directive). The energy sector is deregulated, making emissions trading and flexible mechanisms central measures in reducing emissions.

Energy demand

The observed energy consumption in 2013 was 759PJ, of which oil accounted for 40%, natural gas 18%, coal 18% and other sources 24% (mainly renewable energy). The net export of electricity in 2013 was 3.9PJ. The distribution of final energy consumption in 2013 was as follows: industry and agriculture 21%, domestic 30%, transportation 33% and commerce and services 14%. Non-energy uses accounted for the remaining 2%. Energy consumption in the household sector primarily comprises heating and electricity. Since 2000 the final energy consumption for heating per m2 in households has decreased and was in 2013 approximately 15% below the 1990 level. From 1990-2013 total household electricity consumption increased by 3.8% while electricity consumption for appliances and lighting etc. increased by 17.1%. This big difference is due to a significant fall in electricity consumption for heating.

As much as 30-40% of total energy consumption is used for heating, ventilation and lighting in building. Denmark has introduced regulations to reduce energy consumption in buildings, including regulations on energy labelling of buildings and regular revisions of building regulations to ensure that construction of new buildings and renovation of existing buildings prevent unnecessary energy consumption. There is also political focus on reducing energy consumption in buildings. In May 2014 the government published its Energy Renovation Strategy of Buildings. The strategy presents 21 concrete initiatives which are expected to reduce energy consumption for heating in existing buildings by 35 per cent by 2050. In November 2014 the Building Policy Strategy was published. The strategy includes a theme on sustainable building to promote not only energy efficiency in buildings but sustainability in the construction sector and in buildings in general.

Carbon pricing

Denmark implemented the EU ETS which has been in operation since 2005 setting a price on carbon for the sectors covered under the EU ETS phases I–III, i.e. predominantly energy producers and some of the energy-intensive industry. This means that installations covered can either reduce their emissions where they regard it as most cost-effective, or they can buy allowances to cover their emissions.

Energy taxes are a further pricing mechanism contributing to reducing demand for fossil energy. These date back to the 1970s, when energy taxes aimed to promote energy efficiency. Since 1992 there have been carbon taxes for gas/diesel oil, fuel oil, electricity, lignite, natural/ town gas, petrol and coal taxes also cover industrial GHGs (HFCs, PFCs, SF6, i.e. F-gases) since 2001.

Transportation

The transportation sector accounted for 23% of GHG emissions in 2011. Key measures are the implementation of the European Renewable Energy Directive, which includes a target of 10% of renewable energy in transportation and is primarily met by first generation biofuels. Furthermore, taxes are differentiated according to the CO2 intensity of fuels to encourage improvements in fuel efficiency. The annual tax on motor vehicles is based on energy consumption, which is also known as the ‘green owner tax’ and ranges from DKK620 to DKK21,660 (USD104-USD3,652) per year for petrol-based vehicles and DKK240 to DKK32,040 (USD40-USD5,402) per year for diesel-based vehicles and is measured in accordance with EU directive 93/116/EC. Denmark has a number of action plans and political agreements to support emission reductions in the transportation sector such as tax incentives and funding for specific programmes such as those supporting the uptake of electric and fuel cell vehicles. However, the legislation predominantly aims at sectoral objectives that integrate climate aspects as a side-aspect or the implementation of EU-level directives. Notable transportation-related government initiatives include the action plan to reduce the transportation sector’s CO2 emissions (1996), the action plan on the reduction of the transportation sector’s CO2 emissions (2001), and the political agreement on a Green Transport Vision for Denmark (2009).

LULUCF

Denmark actively manages its forests based on the strategy for sustainable forest management (1994) and the national forest programme (2002) and provides funds for REDD+ projects in developing countries. LULUCF-effects from forests and cropland are part of the Danish effort to reach its Kyoto target, and are taken into consideration in general planning (spatial, environmental).

Emissions from agriculture account for a relatively large proportion of total emissions in Denmark primarily due to the large and intensive farming sector in Denmark. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture are about 9m tonnes CO2e per year, or about 15% of total emissions. More than 3m tonnes CO2e are emitted from soil and pastures. Climate impacts from agriculture are primarily regulated through national implementation of EU directives and through subsidy schemes as part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. In the period 1990 -2010 the government has implemented three action plans for the aquatic environment that have resulted in reducing the amount of nitrogen used in agriculture with 40%-50%, thus contributing to reducing emissions of nitrous oxide from fields by 30% in the same period. This has so far been the largest contribution from agriculture in reducing emissions of GHGs. In general, experience shows that agricultural and forestry policies can simultaneously contribute to meeting nature, environment and greenhouse reduction goals.

Adaptation

Following the adoption of the strategy for adaptation to a changing climate in 2008, the government released in 2012 a new adaptation action plan including a task force that works around the country with municipalities and other stakeholders to develop local action plans.