Denmark

Denmark ranks 4th in this year’s CCPI and is again the highest-ranked of all countries surveyed. Overall, Denmark receives a high rating, but it was unable to achieve an overall very high needed to enter the top three, which still remains vacant.

Danish climate action has paused since October 2022

Last year’s evaluation of the country‘s progress was optimistic, but this time, the CCPI national experts claim that Danish climate action has nearly paused since October 2022, when national elections were called. Before that time, many of the sectoral climate agreements, such as the legally binding economy-wide target of a 70% reduction in 2030 and net zero in 2045–2050, were to be strengthened in 2023. Denmark‘s reduction path has not been linear over the last two years. As a result, the remaining Danish share of the global 1.5°C-compatible carbon budget requires tightening of its 2030 target to 80% and moving its net-zero target from 2050 to 2040. The experts fear that, otherwise, the country will not meet its national target for 2025 and 2030. This was also disparaged by the Danish Independent Climate Council in its February 2023 status report.

The actions that have been taken also heavily rely on CCS to achieve 3.2-million-tonne reductions by 2030, accounting for roughly 14% of necessary total reductions between 2022 and 2030. The experts underscore that CCS must not be an excuse for delaying emissions cuts in sectors where they otherwise could be averted.

All the experts agree that implementing a tax on agricultural production would be a crucial step towards lowering the country‘s high emissions in this sector. Moreover, Denmark urgently needs to stop its tax rebates and subsidies for biomass and include biomass in the CO2 tax. This would reduce biomass use and would ensure true zero emissions. Additionally, decisions to expand motorways, reduce public transport, and eliminate a public transport target all contribute to compromising climate actions in Denmark and therefore need to be revised or paused.

Denmark combines diplomacy with concrete partnerships

The experts report that Denmark combines diplomacy with concrete climate partnerships, such as with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) and Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), where the country helps increase international ambitions for offshore wind and promotes a managed phase-out of oil and gas production. Still, even in Denmark, some regressive positions prevail, such as the uncertainty about whether it is still among the EU countries demanding a reduction target increased to 65% by 2030, and net zero by 2040, as the government extensively promoted extensively in the previous two years.

The CCPI experts demand updated sectoral climate targets to reflect Denmark’s share of the remaining carbon budget, an intact carbon tax on agriculture, and land-use to support the country‘s 2030 target and the return of ambitious climate initiatives in Danish politics.

Key Outcomes

CCPI experts

The following national experts agreed to be mentioned as contributors for this year’s CCPI:

• Gunnar Boye Olesen (SustainableEnergy)
• Dan Belusa (Danish 92 Group)
• Christian Jarby (Green Transition Denmark)
• Mattias Söderberg (DanChurchAid)
• Tobias Johan Sorensen (Denmark’s Green think tank)