Environment at a Glance Indicators

Denmark

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, biodiversity, and selected policy responses to these issues. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

Denmark has a small, open and rich economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) per person well above the OECD average. The population enjoys high living standards and low-income inequality. However, over the past decades, GDP has grown less rapidly than the OECD average.

Denmark is a small country in northern Europe composed of the Jutland Peninsula and an archipelago of more than 400 islands. Due to its long coastline and many fjords, much of Denmark is coastal. It enjoys abundant water resources, mostly in the form of streams, rivers and several hundred lakes, as well as drinkable groundwater resources found in sedimentary bedrock. The Danish landscape is made up of plains and low-lying hills, moraine from the last two glacial eras. The highest point is only 175 metres above sea level. Most of Denmark’s surface is covered by croplands. The country is endowed with some petroleum and natural gas resources, as well as fish, salt, limestone, chalk, gravel and sufficient wind speed to generate wind power. The resilience of the Danish economy is underpinned significantly by its low reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Environmental governance is decentralised, as jurisdiction on the environment is shared among the national, local and, to a lesser extent, regional levels. Denmark’s 98 municipalities are responsible for most aspects of local environmental management.

Climate change

Denmark has significantly reduced its GHG emissions since 2003 mainly due to the shift from coal to natural gas and renewables, as for other emission sources (agriculture, industry and waste), emissions are virtually unchanged since 2010. Denmark is one of the few OECD countries that achieved absolute decoupling of both production-based and demand-based (footprint) CO₂ emissions from real GDP. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and associated reduction in activity and consumption led to a further decline of emissions in 2020.

Per person CO₂ emissions are below the OECD average. However, demand-based CO₂ emissions (footprints), that account for all carbon emitted anywhere in the world to satisfy domestic final demand, are much higher than emissions from domestic production.

Energy mix

The contribution of fossil fuels to the energy mix dropped significantly mainly due to the shift from coal to natural gas and renewables. Denmark has one of the highest shares of renewables (mainly biofuels, waste and wind) in energy supply among OECD countries.

Air quality

Air emissions

Emissions of most major air pollutants have decreased. Since 2014 the reduction stalled due to increased economic activity. The main sources of air pollution are agriculture (ammonia [NH₃], Non-methane volatile organic compounds [NMVOC]), transport (nitrogen oxides [NO_X]), wood combustion (fine particulates [PM_2.5]) and industry (sulphur dioxide [SO_X]). Denmark reached its 2020 Gothenburg Protocol objectives for sulphur dioxide (SO₂), NOx, NMVOC and NH₃ emissions.

Emission intensities are generally lower than the OECD average, although per person emissions of CO, NMVOC and NOx are above the OECD Europe average.

Emission reductions went on par with air quality improvements. Average population exposure to fine particulates is below the OECD average but nevertheless above the new guideline value of 5 µg/m³ recommended by the World Health Organization.

Freshwater resources

Use of freshwater resources

Denmark has many abundant water resources, mostly in the form of streams, rivers and several hundred lakes, as well as drinkable groundwater resources found in sedimentary bedrock. The country is under low water stress and abstracts less freshwater per person than the OECD average.

Connection rates to public wastewater treatment plants, which were already high in 2000 have continued to increase. Most (91%) wastewater is treated in plants with tertiary (“advanced”) treatment.

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Denmark has one of the highest amounts of municipal waste generated per person in the OECD, partly due to the economy’s high level of consumption. The country has been an OECD front-runner in diverting municipal waste from landfill, mainly through incineration with energy recovery.

Material consumption

The Danish economy uses a large amount of materials per unit of GDP, which translates into low resource productivity. While domestic material consumption (DMC) was decoupled from economic growth in 2008, at the time of the global economic crisis, it has been rising again since 2014. As in most OECD countries, non-metallic minerals account for the largest share of DMC, driven by construction materials. Since the economic slowdown ended, the construction sector has been recovering, boosted by large infrastructure projects such as the Copenhagen metro and Fehmarnbelt tunnel.

Biodiversity

Croplands cover some 60% of Denmark’s area, forests 16%, light-open habitats such as heath, dunes, meadows and marshes 5%, and artificial surfaces (urbanised areas) and inland waters the remaining 18%. However, loss of natural and semi natural areas and gain of artificial surfaces continue to occur and pressures from the fragmentation and degradation of landscapes as well as intensive agricultural and forestry practices result in significant biodiversity loss. In Greenland, climate change constitutes the major threat. Average temperatures are projected to rise by 2 degrees Celsius (°C) in southern Greenland and by 6-10°C in northern Greenland, with an increase in rain and snowfall of 10-50%. There is a risk that most of the high Arctic zone will be replaced by low Arctic conditions.

Some 30 000 species of plants, animals and fungi can be found in Denmark. Species living in agricultural ecosystems and open habitats (commons, heaths, bogs and sand dunes) show a negative trend, while forests are in a rather good conservation status, and forest area is even growing as a result of reforestation policies. Nevertheless, more than half the species on the red list depend on forest habitats for survival.

Protected areas

Denmark has almost met the 2020 Aichi targets (under the Convention on Biological Diversity) to protect at least 17% of land area and far exceeded the 10% target for coastal and marine areas. However, only a limited number of sites have strict management objectives (IUCN categories I and II). About 6.2 % of the country’s land is covered by protected areas that have had management effectiveness assessments and the same is true for 4.1 % of the EEZ. Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) evaluations, can be defined as: “the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives" (Hockings et al. 2006).

Policy instruments

This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.

Environmentally-related taxation

Denmark has a long history of applying environmentally related taxes, being among the front-runners in integrating environmental considerations into its tax system. Many taxes align closely with the estimated external cost of production or consumption activities. Environmentally related tax revenue has been declining since 2014, though it is still more than twice the OECD average when measured in percentage of GDP. Revenue declined considerably during the 2008-09 financial crisis, mostly because vehicle tax revenue fell due to deductions for fuel-efficient cars introduced in 2007; the level stayed relatively constant in the following years. Revenue decreased again as of 2015, due to increased used of biomass for heating production (replacing coal-based production), which is exempted from energy and CO₂ taxes. The share of environmentally related taxes also declined in percentage of total revenues.

As in most OECD countries, energy-related taxes account for the largest share of tax revenue. Yet Denmark differs from other countries in its large taxes on vehicles. Taxes on pollution and natural resource use account for a small share of total green tax revenue, although the level is higher than in many other OECD countries.

Government support to fossil fuels and effective carbon rates (ECR)

Denmark implicitly supports the consumption of fossil fuels through favourable tax treatments, such as the exemption of agriculture from the energy duty; tax exemptions or deductions for shipping, aircraft and companies with heavy processes not covered by the EU ETS; and the lower diesel ownership tax for lorries, buses and tractors. The recent rising energy prices led the Danish government to implement new measures supporting the consumption of fossil fuels. A reduction of the electricity tax has been implemented in 2022 and is meant to be pursued in 2023. Moreover, the Danish government also supported the most affected households – through both a geographical and an income condition – via the allowance of an energy cheque. Both measures are temporary.

Like many other EU countries, Denmark puts a price on GHG emissions via energy taxes and participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Overall, more than 56% of GHG emissions are priced and more than half (35.7%) are priced above 120 EUR/tonne of CO₂. These shares increase to 94% and 59% respectively, when excluding emissions from the combustion of biomass, meaning that emissions from biomass are less taxed.

Technology and innovation

The share of environmentally-related government R&D budget has declined, from 2.6% in 2000 to 1.2% in 2021. By contrast, the share of renewable energy public RD&D budget has remained high, at 40-50% since 2000, albeit witnessing a drastic decline in 2019-21.

Denmark is an above-average performer in environmentally-related patents, with 20-25% of patents filed for protection in at least two jurisdictions by national inventors, compared to an OECD average of 10-13%. has developed a high level of specialisation in environment-related technology. Most patents are filed in for protection of patents the fields of wind energy and energy-related climate change mitigation technology.

Environment-related official development assistance (ODA)

Denmark’s development co-operation is based on democratic values and human rights, and focuses on tackling poverty and inequality, conflict and displacement, and giving increased attention to climate change. Most of Denmark’s official development assistance (ODA) is provided as bilateral co-operation, primarily to fragile partner countries in Africa. Denmark’s total official development assistance (ODA) (USD 2.8 billion) increased in 2022 due to in-donor refugee costs. It represented 0.67% of gross national income (GNI). In 2020-21, Denmark committed 24.2% of its total bilateral allocable aid (USD 420.1 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (Development Assistance - DAC countries’ average of 34.3%), down from 33.1% in 2018-19. Seven per cent of screened bilateral allocable aid focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.3%. Twenty-one per cent of total bilateral allocable aid (USD 368.4 million) focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 29%), down from 24.7% in 2018-19. Denmark had a greater focus on mitigation (14.7%) than on adaptation (13.6%) in 2020-21. Two per cent of total bilateral allocable aid (USD 36.1 million) focused on biodiversity (compared with the DAC average of 6.5%), up from 1.5% in 2018-19.

References and further reading

CBD (2024), Country profiles: Denmark, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=dk#facts.

Danish Ministry of Climate Energy and Utilities (2019), “Denmark’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan”, https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2020-01/dk_final_necp_main_en_0.pdf.

OECD (2023), OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels: Country Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5a3efe65-en.

OECD (2023), "Denmark", in Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en.

OECD (2022), OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2022 Issue 1, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62d0ca31-en.

OECD (2019), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Denmark 2019, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1eeec492-en.

IEA (2017), Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Denmark 2017, Energy Policies of IEA Countries, IEA, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264287594-en.

UNEP-WCMC (2024), “Protected Area Profile for Denmark”, the World Database of Protected Areas, www.protectedplanet.net.