Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo by Ava Coploff on Unsplash

Denmark

CCAC Partner since
2012
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Denmark has been a CCAC partner since 2012 and has supported activities in household energy and waste, including developing and conducting black carbon emissions testing and protocols for heat stoves to enable ecolabelling and other voluntary black carbon standards for heat stoves, and the City Waste Exchange Program between Copenhagen and Sao Paulo to share information and experiences in the municipal waste sector.

Denmark has ensured ambitious climate action by passing the 2020 Climate Act into law. The Climate Act sets a target to reduce Denmark's greenhouse gas emissions by 70% in 2030 compared to 1990 levels and a long-term objective of climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. The Act also calls for a new national climate target with a 10-year perspective to be set every five years. The new targets cannot be less ambitious than the last agreed-upon target – aligned with the principle of no backsliding in the Paris Agreement.

During the announcement of Denmark’s 2020 Climate Act, Danish Minister for Climate, Energy, and Utilities Dan Jørgensen stressed the importance of raising global ambition to tackle climate change under the Paris Agreement: “We urgently need to ramp up climate action. The Nationally Determined Contributions at next year’s COP26 will be a litmus test for our future. If we fail to make real progress, we will set the world on a path to an environmental disaster.”

Early and ambitious action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) is essential to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and Denmark is taking significant steps to reduce these pollutants. As a member of the European Union, Denmark follows EU regulations to reduce their F-gas emissions by two-thirds by 2030 compared to 2009-2012 levels. To support this effort, Denmark increased its importing taxes on HFCs in 2020 and has a law in place that puts an extensive ban on the sale and use of HFCs in new equipment. Funds have been earmarked in the national budget periodically since 2005 to promote the adoption and development of low-global warming potential (GWP) HFC alternatives, retrofit buildings with low-GWP alternatives, and improve the Danish collection and return systems for newly developed fluorinated refrigerants. 

In the 2020 Climate Agreement for Energy and Industry, a majority of the Danish parliament agreed on introducing biogas tenders in order to promote the production of biogas. Moreover, in 2022 a new broad political agreement was set in place including an ambition to phase out gas boilers for heating purposes in households by 2035. This will contribute to the Danish ambition of achieving 100 pct. fossil-free gas consumption in Denmark by 2030.

Learn more about Denmark’s climate and clean action below.

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Other activities

Oil and gas

  • A broad majority in the Danish Parliament reached a deal on the future of fossil extraction in the North Sea in December 2020, leading to the cancellation of the eighth licensing round and all future licensing rounds to extract oil and gas.
  • The deal also established a final phase-out date of fossil extraction by 2050.
  • The agreement also consists of a  commitment to lead a global campaign on the role of fossil fuel-producing countries leading to the announcement of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance presented on COP26.

Household energy

  • 2012: Denmark committed funding for green heating, geothermal energy and large heat pumps to cut down on solid fuels and fossil fuels used for heating.
  • The 2012 Energy Agreement put a ban on the installation of oil-fired boilers and natural gas boilers in new buildings from 2013 onwards and committed funds to support the retrofitting of oil and natural gas boilers in existing buildings to be powered by renewable sources.
  • 2020: The existing electrical heating tax was reduced to the EU minimum rate, incentivising the transition to using electricity over fossil fuel energy sources.
  • 2020: Subsidy pools were implemented for the phasing out of oil and gas-powered boilers will be initiated.
  • 2020: The mandatory consumer connection to the natural gas grid was eliminated, and a subsidy pool was implemented to support this transition and encourage district heating alternatives. 

Transport

  • 2020: Funding was allocated to electrifying parts of the rail infrastructure in Denmark, speeding up the transition towards green buses, and enhancing the bicycle infrastructure to encourage citizens to use more climate-friendly methods of transportation.
  • 2020: Tax deductions were implemented for vehicles with high energy efficiencies, such as electric vehicles, to incentivise a transition away from conventional petrol and diesel engines which produce emissions contributing to air pollution.
  • 2021: Funding was allocated to different initiatives in the transport sector, including funding to incentivise a transition away from fossil fuels for municipal and commercial domestic ferries. Furthermore, funding was directed towards co-financing charging infrastructure for housing associations and in both private and municipal areas, a transition towards both hydrogen-based and electrical trucks and propellant infrastructure for commercial carriage. 
  • 2022: Fuel providers got obligated to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of fuels on a well-to-wheel basis. The GHG-reduction target for the fuel providers is 3.4 per cent in 2022 increasing to 7 per cent in 2030.
  • 2023-2026: Companies are exempt from tax on the electricity they provide at the workplace to charge electric vehicles. Moreover, company cars will get either a supplement or a deduction in the tax assessment depending on whether the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid car or an electric car.  
  • 2025: Introduction of a road-pricing scheme for trucks over 12 tonnes, based on mileage and GHG emissions.

Agriculture

  • 2007 - 2013: The Danish Rural Development Program provided financial aid to investments in biogas plants.
  • 2012: A new support measure was introduced in 2012 for biogas injected to the gas system, biogas for industry, transport and electricity.

  • 2020:  Research projects to develop feed additives that will decrease the amount of methane emitted from ruminant digestion were launched.

  • 2023-2030: Introduction of tender-based subsidies supporting the production of biogas and other green gasses. The volume of manure used for biogas production increases as the total biogas production continues to rise, which in turn reduces methane emissions from manure stores. 

Climate finance

  • Denmark has earmarked 25% of its development aid to climate-related projects, including several climate and clean air projects.
  • As to the USD 100 billion goal, which developed countries have committed to, Denmark is contributing 1% of it.
  • Currently, Denmark provides support to the Nordic Development Fund which funds clean cookstoves initiatives primarily in sub-Sahara Africa.

Hydrogen

  • 2021: Denmark provides funds for Denmark’s participation in The European Union’s Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) concerning hydrogen.
  • 2021: Denmark presents its first strategy for hydrogen.
  • 2022: Denmark takes first steps towards green hydrogen economy by aiming to build up to six gigawatts (GW) of electrolysis capacity in order to convert renewable power into green hydrogen and earmarks billions of Danish kroner towards boosting the development of new e-fuels in hard-to-abate sectors like shipping and aviation as well as heavy-duty road transport and industry

Contacts

Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities
Copenhagen K,Denmark
Website

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