Inside Denmark’s bold new nature restoration plan

Danish policymakers have agreed to spend DKK 43 billion (US$6 billion) on rewilding and reforesting 10% of the country’s total land area, including some farmland.

“Danish nature will be changed in a way not seen since the drainage of wetlands in 1864,” Jeppe Bruus, the nation’s minister for the green transition, said in a statement.

As part of the plan, Denmark will become the first country in the world to introduce a greenhouse gas emissions tax on agriculture — a sector that’s responsible for roughly a fifth of the world’s emissions. The tax is expected to reduce Denmark’s emissions by up to 2.6 million tonnes by 2030, the government said.

The strategy will also target the use of ecologically harmful nitrogen-based fertilisers in an effort “to ensure the return of fish to our coasts and fjords,” Bruus said.

This won’t come at the expense of food production, according to the government, which says it will invest $1.4 billion in pyrolysis technology — converting biomass into biochar and renewable gas — and a shift to climate-friendly agricultural practices that leverage new technologies to increase efficiencies and productivity.

The “Green Tripartite Plan” will seek to establish 250,000 hectares of new forest and convert 140,000 hectares of environmentally-damaging low-lying farmland into natural areas, including meadows and wetlands. The state will buy land from farmers for this purpose.

Local councils will be established across the country to engage with municipalities, agricultural organisations, and environmental groups.

The plan also includes the establishment of six new national nature parks — increasing the national total to 21 by 2030 — and two new marine parks that’ll include stone reefs to revive sea life.

The strategy was endorsed by multiple parties from both sides of the political spectrum, as well as business associations — including the Danish Agriculture and Food Council.

“Denmark’s groundbreaking new agriculture and climate policy, which taxes greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production, restores nature and pays farmers to reduce nitrogen pollution, is the world’s most comprehensive national effort to address the environmental challenges of agriculture,” analysts at the World Resources Institute said in a statement.

Globally, agriculture and associated land use change contribute around one quarter of emissions, meaning the sector is critical to the fight against climate change. However, governments have done little to decarbonise agriculture to date.

“Denmark’s well-balanced policy shows other countries how they can take real action on agricultural emissions,” the WRI said. “As the policy explicitly recognises, it will only be a true success if it encourages similar climate ambition for the European Union as a whole. That would also help ensure a level playing field for Danish agriculture and help prevent leakage of food production and its environmental impacts to other countries.”

Denmark also recently launched a plan to promote a shift to plant-based foods, and is a global leader in the transition to wind energy.

The country has set ambitious goals to reduce overall economy-wide emissions by 70% by 2030.