In recent years, homes in North Jutland have been heated with coal from one of South America's most notorious and controversial mines.
A document review that Danwatch has obtained shows that the municipally owned Aalborg Forsyning has imported over 160,000 tons of coal from the Cerrejón mine over the past three years, which has been linked to a long list of environmental and human rights violations for decades. By September 2025, the North Jutland utility received 26,600 tons of coal from the mine.
- This case shows that their CSR policy plays no role in practice. They are not living up to their own responsibility, says Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, professor of business ethics at Roskilde University.
Aalborg Forsyning was warned as early as 2023 that the mining operation, which is controlled by the multinational company Glencore, had massive problems with water and air pollution, forced relocations and threats. This happened after Danwatch had visited the mine in Columbia.
At the time, the then chairman of Aalborg Forsyning, Per Clausen (EL), maintained that Glencore was working within the framework of the company's CSR policy.
Problems continue
Today, the UN, among others, assesses that there are still problems - for example, wastewater is being dumped in the local river. The Independent reported in May last year that it had forced local residents to buy water from tankers.
A Colombian researcher with in-depth knowledge of the mine, who wishes to remain anonymous because criticism of the mine may be associated with threats, confirms to Danwatch that there are still problems:
“There are ongoing concerns about the environmental and social consequences of coal mining, especially among the Wayuu communities that live in the area,” writes the researcher, whose identity is known to Danwatch.
Despite the criticism, acting CEO of Aalborg Forsyning, Jesper Høstgaard-Jensen, maintains that they still have a good collaboration with Glencore:
- As long as we can see that Glencore is collaborating positively and helping to create improvements where they operate, we have confidence in Glencore, says Jesper Høstgaard-Jensen.
In an email to Danwatch, Glencore emphasizes that the company complies with all applicable guidelines. Aalborg Forsyning is the only Danish utility company that still has coal in their portfolio. It is planned to phase it out by 2028 at the latest.
amp
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
