Today, Denmark's climate target is limited to calculating greenhouse gas emissions that occur within the country's borders.
But that will have to change when the Folketing is scheduled to adopt a new climate target for 2035 and a revision of the Climate Act before the turn of the year. This is the opinion of the Unity Party, which wants a separate target for Denmark's global emissions included in the new Climate Act.
- There is a huge gap in the Climate Act, which means that Denmark does not actually take responsibility for our emissions, says Leila Stockmarr, climate spokesperson for the Unity Party.
The party therefore wants the government to agree that Denmark should have a reduction target of 60 percent in 2035 for our global emissions. This includes, for example, pollution from shipping from Maersk, emissions from the mining company FLSmidth and investments in the financial sector, all of which take place primarily in other countries.
Based on figures from the Danish Energy Agency and the Climate Council, the Unity Party has calculated Denmark's total global emissions to be over 200 million tons of CO2. In comparison, the territorial emissions within Denmark's borders, which are covered by the Climate Act, are 39 million tons of CO2 in the latest calculation.
- We do not believe that Denmark can boast of being a green pioneer country when the Climate Act only reduces emissions within Danish territory, she says.
Will calculate emissions in an alternative way
The Unity Party's proposal will break with the standard way of calculating the climate footprint used by the UN. Here, it is a fundamental principle that each country is responsible for its own emissions.
If a Danish company has a factory in China, it is therefore a Chinese matter to calculate and regulate the emissions from there. In the same way, emissions from a factory in Aalborg fall under Danish regulation, even if the product is shipped out of the country.
However, the Unity Party does not believe that the green transition and the efforts against climate change can wait for third countries like China to adapt.
- If we were not in a hurry, one could hope that the other countries would also have ambitious climate goals. But the crisis is so advanced that we do not have time to wait for everyone else to get the regulations in place, says Leila Stockmarr.
The government has noted in its government policy that it will examine the possibilities and consequences of setting a target for Denmark's global emissions. However, it is not certain what the outcome will be.
Climate Minister Lars Aagaard (M) is still expected to call for negotiations on the new climate target, which according to the Climate Act must be presented before the turn of the year
/ritzau/
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