The Danish Ministry of Environment is leading the nation’s efforts in mitigating the effects of climate change and developing a circular economy
The Danish Ministry of Environment is a young ministry, created only in December 2020 by a division of the former Ministry of Environment and Food.
The Ministry focuses on supporting the development of sustainable industrial growth and workplaces in Denmark while at the same time protecting the natural world, as a basis for life and food production and in terms of protecting forests, lakes, coasts and open landscapes as providing a variety of leisure time. activities for the public.
At the same time, the ministry is working to ensure that the public is protected from unnecessary chemical products in clothes, toys, soap and homes, and to deal with pollution that can affect daily life.
Leah Wermelin has been Minister of the Environment since June 2019.
In an article she published in 2020 for the OAG, she outlined her three priorities related to the circular economy: less waste; More and better recycling; Focus on plastics and textiles.
“The circular economy is critical, and we have to act now. It has been many years in which research and knowledge of climate and nature have been systematically rejected. Knowledge that sends a clear message: Our way of life has a serious downside.”
“Since ancient times, human development has depended on the consumption of the riches and resources of nature. But our consumption has side effects. It has consequences, and we have to take responsibility for these consequences.”
Nature Agency
The Nature Agency is an organization affiliated with the Ministry of the Environment. The Nature Agency implements government policies related to nature and the environment. The Nature Agency aims to secure clean water, protect and secure nature, city and landscape planning, outdoor activities and information for the public about nature, forests, land management in state forests, and game and wildlife management.
The Nature Agency consists of 23 Nature Department units across Denmark with approximately 850 employees and a main head office in Copenhagen with approximately 400 employees. The management team consists of the general manager and five directors.
Danish Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency manages missions in the following areas: rich nature, clean water, safe chemistry, and green production.
It encourages sustainable consumption, including efforts to improve sustainable procurement in both the public and private sectors, and eco-labels to show consumers that products meet stringent environmental requirements. The EPA is also the competent body for the Environmental Management System and Audit, which has been the European Commission’s preferred voluntary environmental management system since 1993.
In addition, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency works to identify chemicals in consumer products and maintains a database of these substances. The public can search the database for reports on a specific substance or search results within a specific product type.
Mitigating the effects of climate change
Climate change is a major focus of the Ministry of the Environment, and in 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Food, its predecessor, held a workshop on agro-climate in Copenhagen, with ministries and agencies of EU member states, the European Commission and selection
experts.
The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate interaction between policy makers from the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment and Climate Change, and to scale up mitigation practices and technologies in a cost-effective and opportunity-creating manner.
The workshop considered options and challenges for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in three main areas of agriculture: livestock; soil and land management; A vibrant economy.
Issues discussed included the adoption of data and digital tools in tracking emissions, how to motivate farmers to participate in the adoption of voluntary agro-ecological measures and how to protect carbon pools in organic soils, including the case of agricultural soil degradation in the European Union.
Business plan for circular economy
In July 2021, the Danish government published a circular economy action plan, its National Waste Prevention and Management Strategy for the period 2020-2032.
The action plan contains a total of 129 initiatives, with
Focus on areas including:
• Less wastage and better use of natural resources.
• More and better recycling.
• Better use of biomass.
• A sustainable built environment.
• Plastics in the circular economy.
Plastic waste is Denmark’s single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from waste incineration. In 2019, about 514,000 tons of plastic waste were generated in Denmark. Only about 25% of this was collected for recycling and it is estimated that only half of the collection was actually recycled, with the rest incinerated.
The burning of both Danish and imported waste containing plastic emits approximately 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Under the action plan, the government aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste burned by 80% by 2030.
1. https://en.mim.dk/media/224197/alle-faktaark-engelsk-nyeste.pdf
2. https://en.mim.dk/the-ministry/
3. https://en.mim.dk/the-ministry/objects-and-history/
4. https://en.mim.dk/focus-on/copenhagen-workshop-on-climatechange-mitigation/
5. www.openaccessgovernment.org/denmark-green-agenda/86467
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Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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