Denmark is in the midst of a very positive transition. For the past 4 years, the government has been run by the conservative Venstre party of former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen who was not supportive of the people’s growing global warming concerns. Now, after recent elections, where various left-leaning parties together won a majority in the 179-seat Parliament, Mr. Rasmussen had to step down and give the prime minister position to the leader of Denmark’s center-left Social Democratic party, Mette Frederiksen.
Ms. Frederiksen, 41, who will become Denmark’s youngest-ever prime minister, has come to an agreement with several other left-leaning parties. The deal is likely to usher in major new action on climate change and a softening of some policies on migrants – all issues of which were on the top of many Danish voters’ list of priorities.
To begin with, she has vowed to work toward a 70% cut in her country’s carbon emissions by 2030. “We’ll be one of the most ambitious parliaments in the world,” Ms. Frederiksen said of the environmental focus of her new government. She also said that changes are likely to include levies on plastic as well as plans to increase forestation.
Other measures under the government’s agreement include:
- Energy efficiency improvements and a broad electrification strategy.
- A ban on the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars from 2030.
- Cooperation with other North Sea countries to exploit offshore wind potential.
- A pledge to strengthen its climate diplomacy and push for more ambitious climate goals within the EU.
- To achieve a consensus for carbon neutrality by 2050.
- To focus the union’s future budget on climate.
Regarding some of the contentious immigration policies of the previous, right-leaning government, measures aimed at repatriation and limiting the number of asylum seekers and migrants will remain. However, other aspects are likely to change. “Except for immigration policy, the Social Democrats have moved left, particularly in areas of welfare and social justice,” said Jakob Nielsen, the editor in chief of Altinget, a Danish politics website. “The three other left-leaning parties that agreed to back Ms. Frederiksen and the Social Democrats appeared to have accepted only minor changes in immigration policy in return for increased social and welfare spending and actions to combat climate change,” reports The New York Times.
Green Transition At The Heart Of Policy
Denmark’s government announced a “new political direction” to clarify that dealing with the climate crisis at hand is a top priority. The country’s climate targets have been raised and it has placed the green transition at the heart of policy. It is what the citizens have been fighting for.
Mattias Söderberg, climate advisor at NGO DanChurchAid, said politicians in Denmark have “finally realized that climate change is a serious matter. More than 60,000 Danes called for a new Danish climate law in the run-up to the election. It now seems like this proposal will be turned into policy and law.” The call by the citizens was a petition which was signed by 65,000 people and demanded the government take more action on climate change. The petition was presented to the conservative government and the right-wing populist Danish People’s Party in parliament earlier this year but completed failed to gain any support.
But today is a new era and the tables have turned! The new government pledged to introduce binding decarbonization goals and strengthen its 2030 target to reduce emissions by 70% below the 1990 level (the current target is 40%). The left-wing alliance acknowledged this to be “a very ambitious target” but warned “the world and Denmark are in a climate crisis” and that limiting global temperature rise is “not just the right thing to do, it’s also the most economically responsible one”.
Brian Vad Mathiesen, professor of energy planning at Aalborg University, said the June election had seen “the most detailed and vigorous debates about climate and energy policy ever in Denmark”. Others are describing the election as “a historic opportunity to set a new political direction” in Denmark.
