The Danish government said today that it can demonstrate that the country will achieve its 2030 climate goal and is "clear" that it will also reach its 2035 target.
Denmark has legally binding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets for 2030 and 2035. It plans to cut emissions by 70pc by 2030 from 1990 levels and has a legally binding target of 82pc GHG reductions by 2035, with an "objective" for 85pc cuts — also from the 1990 baseline.
The government estimates that the country will surpass its 2030 goal by a margin of 400,000t CO2 equivalent (CO2e). Denmark's GHG emissions fell by 53pc in 1990-2024 to 36.7mn t CO2e, according to the government.
The country looks also to have beaten an indicative target of a GHG reduction of 50-54pc in 2025 compared with 1990, the government said. Denmark's emissions stood at an estimated 33.9mn t CO2e in 2025, a drop of around 57pc from 1990.
Denmark is an oil and gas producer, and in its North Sea Agreement set an end date of 2050 for fossil fuel extraction. But the government said in February that it would "initiate a process" to look at possibly extending one or more production licences in the Danish North Sea to contribute to European energy security and independence. Any extensions must "take place within the framework of the North Sea Agreement and Denmark's long-term climate goals", Copenhagen said.
Denmark has largely phased out coal, with just one remaining coal-fired combined heat and power plant set to close by the end of 2028.
The government estimates that the country will miss a binding target for the country's agriculture and forestry sector of 55-65pc cuts by 2030 from 1990. It estimates that the sector will reach GHG reductions of 52pc by that date, leaving a "gap" of 700,000-2.8mn t CO2e with the lower and upper ends of the targeted range.
The sector's net emissions fell to around 11.2mn t CO2e in 2024 from 20.9mn t CO2e in 1990, but it is estimated that it will still be the country's highest-emitting sector in 2030 and 2035, the government said. It plans to use measures such as a CO2 tax on livestock emissions, subsidies for reduced fertilizer use and afforestation to ensure that emissions are lowered.
Denmark has set some of the most ambitious climate goals among developed countries. It aims to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2045, and negative emissions — including 110pc cuts from 1990 levels by 2050 — beyond that.
