Denmark: Targeting climate change by 2050
Tackling climate change will be a key target for Horizon 2020. Recognised as one of the grand societal challenges facing Europe, the objective is expected to receive €3bn of EU funding, including €100m for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
Denmark is consistently ranked as a world leader when considering renewable energy and the reduction of carbon emissions. In March 2012, an historic new Energy Agreement was reached and contained a wide range of ambitious initiatives, bringing Denmark closer to the target of 100% renewable energy in the energy and transport sectors by 2050.
The Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, Martin Lidegaard, outlines what needs to be done at Danish and European levels to maintain the fight against climate change and how Denmark can preserve its position at the frontline of this crucial battle.
Do you feel that an increase in focus on the atmospheric sciences is necessary to help Europe in its fight against climate change?
Scientific knowledge about climate change and its effects is extremely important and cannot be underestimated, quite simply because we need this knowledge to properly guide our decisions and actions. Indeed, without this knowledge, while we may be able to infer the cost of action, the cost of inaction will remain unknown. As such, I am delighted that out of the six societal challenges identified in Horizon 2020, climate change has been highlighted.
A key element of Horizon 2020 is the idea of cross-border collaboration, and this is something Denmark is already doing. Given Denmark’s recent collaboration with China and South Africa, how important is international collaboration to the Danish climate change agenda?
International collaboration is extremely important. In Denmark we have one track, where we deal with Europe and the climate change issues being worked on there, but we have also come to realise that if you don’t have a more concrete collaborative relationship with some of the key global economies in order to help guide their transition into a green economy, then it becomes very difficult to get involved in the formal processes.
In Denmark we have a significant knowledge and experience base regarding both energy efficiency and the use and development of renewables and we are happy to share this with other countries, not least because it can benefit the climate negotiations, but also because it will also benefit green technology and innovation because when you work together you learn from one another and inspire each other, and that promotes innovation.
These new growth economies are extremely focused on economic growth, of course, but they are also aware that they do not want to be locked in to a dependency on expensive fossil fuels for the next three or four decades. As such, they now have a real interest in energy and resource efficiency as well as in an independence from fossil fuel energy. Thus, we have been able to build a fruitful co-operative relationship with countries such as China and South Africa.
What do you think needs to be done to ensure that Denmark maintains its position as a world leader when it comes to emissions and energy usage?
Last year we agreed on a new agenda in Denmark (that will last until 2020 and which is backed by 95% of the parliament), within which we have outlined our aim to almost double the amount of renewable energy in our power mix from 40% to 70%, and to double our energy efficiency and thereby reduce our energy consumption in absolute terms by 12%.This will all be combined in a modern smart grid.
However, even with the introduction of a smart grid infrastructure, we will be unable to export our surplus wind energy to other areas of Europe without a well-functioning market. Yet, by drawing on our past experiences, we nevertheless hope to be able to expand that green power market to a larger part of northern Europe, including Poland, the UK and Germany.
How well do you think Denmark as a nation has embraced sustainability, and do you feel your transport, construction and service sectors are suitably environmentally friendly?
I believe that we are well on our way to creating an extreme green makeover in the Danish energy sector. I am putting forward a new climate plan to address transportation, the building sector and the agricultural sector, as we are not as far in front in these areas as we are in energy. That will be the next generation of green planning in Denmark and I hope that we can start this year.
Martin Lidegaard
