By Louise Rasmussen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark remains on course to meet its 2030 target of slashing its territorial greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels, provided that the country delivers on its stated plans, a government-appointed council said on Thursday.
Denmark’s goal, launched in 2020, is one of the world’s most ambitious, while other countries’ pledges still fall far short of what is needed to reach their Paris Agreement targets.
By 2023, the Nordic nation had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared 1990, according to Statistics Denmark.
“This is a success story in a world of gloomy climate news,” the Danish Council on Climate Change said in its annual report on Thursday.
However, it said “there is still a significant risk of missing the target and significant implementation efforts are still needed to reach the goal.”
Denmark’s goal for 2025 is to raise its accumulated cuts to 50-54% from 1990 levels, and the country will “with great certainty” reach at least the lower end of this target, according to the projection.
The council said the government’s action plan showed that emissions would be cut “just about” 70% by 2030, but warned that uncertainty around the level of emissions in five years’ time, in particular from agriculture and industry, caused some risk.
It is therefore important that the government revisits its plans regularly until 2030 as agreed, and adjusts them if necessary, it added.
Denmark’s government by the end of this year plans to agree on climate targets for 2035, which the climate change council said must put the country on path for its existing 2045 goal of net-zero emissions.
Denmark in November became the first country worldwide to pass a law that will put a CO2 tax on livestock carbon dioxide emissions from 2030 — a regulation that will be key in helping it achieve its targets beyond the current decade.
The council has previously recommended that Denmark establish emissions targets around Danes’ consumption footprint and international travel by air and sea. Emissions from exported oil and gas are also not counted.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Ali Withers and Hugh Lawson)
