Environment Minister awaits researchers’ calculations to assess the needs of the Danish marine environment before solutions can be discussed. The current level of effort is insufficient to improve the Danish marine environment, said Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke (S) during Wednesday’s consultation called by Søren Egge Rasmussen (EL).
“There are many different tools that I look forward to discussing with the parties. But I will wait to assess the individual tools until we have a picture of the overall effort needed,” he said. “But I will say that it is completely impossible to imagine that we can continue with just the current tools. Researchers are in the process of making calculations on what efforts are necessary. These calculations are expected to be completed during the year.”
Søren Egge Rasmussen, however, wants action before more numbers are available. “It is very disappointing if we do not start adopting nitrogen reductions before the summer holiday. You cannot always just wait for new numbers because it is a huge task we have to solve,” he told Ritzau.
Focus on the condition of Danish waters has intensified following DR’s revelation that the Ministry of Environment unlawfully prioritized commercial interests over environmental concerns in permits for the discharge of environmentally harmful substances from, among others, Cheminova. This is contrary to the EU’s Water Framework Directive, which prescribes that pollution levels in water bodies that have already exceeded pollution limits should not continue.
Additionally, the worst oxygen depletion in the inner Danish waters in 20 years was reported last September. In response to the situation, an emergency package for the marine environment of 405 million Danish kroner over four years has been approved. Of this amount, 71 million kroner will be used to purchase facilities and areas that reduce the nitrogen levels in Vejle Fjord and Limfjorden this year.
The Environment Minister has previously stated that the emergency package cannot stand alone. National nitrogen regulation will be negotiated when the agricultural agreement is revisited by the parties no later than this year. “In my eyes, there has been decades of failure where successive governments and changing majorities and no parties in the Parliament can be exempt from having joint responsibility for the situation our fjords are in,” said Heunicke on Wednesday.
With the agricultural agreement from 2021, it was decided that a number of measures will reduce nitrogen emissions by 10,800 tons in 2027. To comply with the EU’s requirements for good water quality, Denmark must reduce emissions by 13,100 tons in 2027, according to DR.