Today, about two-thirds of Danish electricity comes from clean sources
Sustainability has been at the core of Denmark’s policy-making and its green policies cover all segments of economy and society, including travel and tourism. The impact of these policies can be seen in the Environment Performance Index 2022, published recently and which ranks countries around the world on lines of their environment policies.
The Scandinavian nation, that was ranked at the top in terms of its climate policy and overall state of the environment, is one of the first nations to introduce a binding Climate Act with the national target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 pc below levels by 2030. Today, about two-thirds of Danish electricity comes from clean sources, and Copenhagen, the capital, aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital in the next three years.
On top of that, the sustainable country has also decided to end oil and gas exploration in the North Sea by 2050. Alongside, it has also introduced 14 Climate Partnerships with the private sector to find ways that individual sectors can contribute to reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in a just way, supporting Danish competitiveness, exports, jobs, welfare and prosperity.
According to a press release, an interesting fact to note is that Denmark was the first country in the world to set a target of becoming independent of fossil fuels by 2050. The nation is a leader in low impact transportation and is home to almost twice as many bicycles than cars thanks to its extensive network of bicycle infrastructure that allows for easy and sustainable transportation. Between 2012 and 2017, employment in the green sectors of the economy had increased four times as much as private sector employment. Today the country with a score of 85.63 is ranked second after Finland (86.51) in the Sustainable Development Report 2022.
According to a press release, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2022 offers a data-rich sustainability scorecard that translates cutting-edge scientific findings into policy insights. Using 40 performance indicators, the EPI ranks 180 countries on their national efforts to protect environmental health, enhance ecosystem vitality, and mitigate climate change.
These indicators measure how close countries are to meeting internationally established sustainability targets for specific environmental issues. Through these measures EPI has identified Denmark with a score of 77.90 as top most sustainable country globally. After Denmark follows other 4 European countries in the top the United Kingdom (77.70), Finland (76.50), Malta (75.20), and Sweden (72.70).
