Environment in Denmark Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Denmark occupies 16,602 square miles (43,000 square kilometers) and is a flat, highly industrialized country, surrounded by 4,500 miles (7,245 kilometers) of coastline. As of 2003, 61 percent of the Danish land area was cultivated, 19 percent was covered by roads and buildings, 11 percent were forests, and 9 percent was registered as nature.

Some government acts regulating wastewater pollution in Danish cities can be traced back to the 19th century. Furthermore, a comprehensive act on nature conservation was enacted in 1917. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s, however, that the environment became the subject of intense public and political interest, and environmental problems became the object of more coherent public regulation. A Ministry of the Environment was established in 1971 and a comprehensive act on environmental protection was passed in 1973. The act regulated industrial pollution, but the agricultural sector succeeded in avoiding strict regulation.

During the 1980s, interest in environmental matters peaked on the electorate’s agenda, and the most important environmental interest organization, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, achieved an impressive number of members (245,000), representing one in 20 Danes. Several acts regarding environmental matters were passed during these years. One of the most important was the first Plan for the Aquatic Environment (1987), which, in particular, regulated pollution from the agricultural sector. The plan was enacted after Denmark experienced several incidents of severe eutrophication. The target was to reduce total discharge of nitrogen by 50 percent and total discharge of phosphorous by 80 percent. The phosphorous goal was fulfilled in the mid-1990s, the nitrogen goal in 2003. In general, the environmental conditions in watercourses, lakes, and fjords have improved. However, this is still not considered to be enough by the authorities, whose aim is to reduce the pollution further.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the development of new instruments-economic instruments and voluntary agreements. Denmark was among the world’s pioneers, when introducing a green tax reform (1993), shifting the tax burden from labor toward natural resources. For instance, Danes now pay carbon dioxide taxes, waste taxes, and a plastic bag tax. Furthermore, these decades saw the development of a new active nature restoration policy.

Internationally, Denmark is under a range of obligations according to European Union (EU) directives and United Nations treaties and conventions.

Today, industry and services are the most important sectors for the Danish economy, while the agricultural, transportation, and energy sectors exercise the largest negative influence on nature and the environment. However, industry still represents a source of environmental problems, for instance, by emitting heavy metals into the air and by using a range of chemical substances that are damaging to human health and the natural environment.

In the agricultural sector, consumption of pesticides has fallen. Overall, consumption of these has decreased by 58 percent since the beginning of the 1980s. However, the sector’s emission of ammonia continues to create local problems for sensitive natural areas as well as odor problems for neighbors-especially where emissions stem from large pig farms. Denmark is the world’s largest exporter of pigs.

Danish energy production is increasing, but the relative importance of oil has been decreasing, from 50 percent (1985) to 40 percent (2004). On the other hand, natural gas and renewable energy (e.g., from waste and windmills) have increased their share. Sulfur emissions have fallen by 98 percent, and emission of nitrogen oxides by 50 percent, but emission of greenhouse gases in the energy sector has increased. Transportation is growing, but emissions of nitrogen oxides and hydrogen carbons have fallen. On the other hand, traffic is still one of the main sources of noise pollution, and the emission of particles has started rising again in the 21st century due to private diesel cars becoming more popular. The emission of fine particles is having a considerable impact on human health. Furthermore, the emission of greenhouse gases has also increased in the transportation sector.

In general, Denmark has one of the world’s highest levels of emissions of greenhouse gases per inhabitant. In the EU’s strategy to implement the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, Denmark has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gases by 21 percent in the period from 1990 to 2008-12. Despite the carbon dioxide-reducing policy instruments implemented, Danish emissions were 10 percent above the 1990 level in 2003. Some of the predicted effects of a warmer climate are changes in Danish biodiversity and agricultural crops. Furthermore, a need for better protection of the coastline is likely.

Denmark is well known for effective environmental regulation and the development of cleaner technology. On the other hand, the very high level of consumption in Denmark is having a negative environmental impact. Denmark’s National Board of Health has suggested that around 10 percent of all cases of cancer in Denmark are due to negative environmental effects. Denmark’s newest strategy for sustainable development (2002) is to decouple economic growth and environmental impact, so the relationship between economic growth and environmental damage can be weakened.

Bibliography:

Hanne Bach et , State of the Environment in Denmark 2005-Illustrated Summary (Ministry of the Environment and the National Environmental Research Institute, 2006);
Peter Munk Christiansen, , Governing the Environment: Politics, Policy, and Organization in the Nordic Countries (Nordic Council of Ministers, 1996).