The Danish Government has argued that it would be more expensive to enter into a higher short term GHG target for 2025. But, the Government’s support parties have pressured the government to agree to 50-54% less emissions, while the government's proposal was 46-50%. Political spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance, Mai Villadsen said "I'm simply not buying the argument that it's getting more expensive now. We can easily roll those things out and actually get money in the coffers from a CO2 tax. We think that would be wise to do. Otherwise we risk pushing an action until 2030 and then being in a situation where we can not achieve it in the end and therefore have to pay a lot." (Energiwatch)
Speaking ahead of a meeting of the Arctic Council later this week, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, called Denmark a leader in green solutions, especially in wind energy. "We look forward to working together on higher climate ambitions, strengthening innovation, investing in renewable energy and helping vulnerable communities." (Avisen)
The Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate met on 12 May and prepared for this year’s major summits on biodiversity (COP15 in Kunming, China) and the climate (COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland). "The Nordic countries can and must be world leaders in climate change. At this critical stage, it is important that we work together to raise our ambitions and that we jointly contribute to a successful meeting result...", said the Minister for the Environment and Climate Per Bolund (press release). The ministers signed a declaration as part of the run-up to COP15 in which they seek to underscore the importance of having the requisite knowledge in order to conserve and restore marine ecosystems at a time of global warming (press release).
Hexigon, a Swedish developer of marine wind turbine technology, said this week that it would create a demonstration project for a floating wind turbine off the Norwegian coast in the MedCenter sea area. The purpose of the Twinway project is to demonstrate the concept behind Hexigon's floating wind turbines with dual wind turbines pilot units designed, installed and operated at Med Center. Floating air bases enable installation at greater water depths, resulting in higher average wind speeds and lower visual impact.
With the growing demand for sustainable biomass in Europe, the international biomass exchange Baltpool is expanding its range of products with sustainability certificates. Exchange participants can now trade in biomass that meets the requirements for sustainability with SBP certificate (Sustainable Biomass Program), which is particularly relevant for Scandinavian and Baltic companies. The SBP certificate, which proves the sustainability of biomass, is recognized in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, where biomass has very high sustainability requirements. (Nordiska Project)
Lucrative support schemes have meant that biogas, produced from, among other things, manure - has been greatly expanded. But, an international research team is critical of Denmark's massive support for biogas, saying that it gives very little climate effect for the cost, while untreated greenhouse gases flow untouched out of the manure elsewhere in agriculture.
However, the team cautions against abandoning Danish agriculture. Nations can’t reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions just by producing less food—that would just shift emissions to other countries. Rather, the world will need to produce more food, but on the same (or less) amount of land as today;
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we clip the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary, in English.