Denmark speaks with two tongues when it comes to the appeals to stop oil and gas production at the COP29 climate summit
Because while Denmark is making an appearance at the summit with the Boga alliance, where the member states have set an end date for oil and gas production, the Danish authorities are granting permits for new oil production in the North Sea. This criticism is made by the Green Youth Movement at the climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
- We think it is very double standards that Denmark is the founder of an alliance like Boga, which is about phasing out fossil fuels, while Denmark is granting new permits for fossil expansion in the North Sea, says climate activist Selma Montgomery.
Together with activists from Great Britain, England, France and Norway, they have established a kind of anti-Boga organization that will expose that the countries are still producing new oil and gas. They call it the Fossil Free North Sea Youth Alliance.
Unhappy with permission for the Hejre field
The criticism stems, for example, from the fact that the Danish authorities earlier this year granted permission to produce new oil in the previously unexploited Hejre oil field in the North Sea. This is despite the fact that Denmark was one of the founders of the Boga alliance, which includes countries that want to stop oil and gas production.
On Thursday, Denmark is using the alliance to demand progress in the negotiations at the climate summit. The agreement is challenged by the fact that several countries are fighting against this year's agreement containing last year's results on phasing out fossil fuels. Denmark is using the Boga alliance to fight against this. But Denmark's credibility in this fight is not spotless, the activists believe.
- We are trying to articulate the double standards that Denmark and other North Sea countries are guilty of when, on the one hand, they talk about the need to phase out fossil fuels, while on the other hand, they themselves are expanding fossil fuels in the North Sea, says Selma Montgomery.
A broad field of climate scientists continuously emphasizes that fossil fuels must remain underground if climate change is to be kept in check.
- We know that there is no room for that if we are to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees and comply with the Paris Agreement, says Selma Montgomery.
Climate Minister rejects criticism
Climate Minister Lars Aagaard does not acknowledge the premise of the criticism.
- I have not heard anyone other than Danes ask me whether it affects our credibility, he tells Ritzau at the summit.
Fundamentally, Denmark's role and position in Boga is based on the North Sea Agreement, which a broad majority in the Danish Parliament adopted in 2020.
This set an end date for oil and gas production in 2050. But it was also agreed that the oil companies that have licenses in the North Sea can continue to extract oil and gas until the last day in 2049.
- Most people know that you can't go from being completely dependent on oil and gas to not using anything the next day, says Lars Aagaard.
/ritzau/
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