Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke has announced that the current agricultural agreement is not sufficient to improve Denmark’s marine environment. The minister emphasizes the need for additional measures but will await calculations from researchers before discussing concrete solutions with the parties. “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,” Heunicke said at a consultation on Wednesday, called by environmental spokesperson Søren Egge Rasmussen. Rasmussen expressed frustration that action is not being taken more quickly: “It is very disappointing if we do not start adopting nitrogen reductions before the summer holidays. You cannot always just wait to get new figures, because it is a huge task we need to solve,” he said to Ritzau. Political spokesperson Signe Munk also participated in the consultation and emphasized the need for concrete measures: “Agriculture’s manure and fertilizers are the main contributors to the problems in the Danish fjords. We can see that voluntary agreements and good intentions have failed,” she said.
The current agricultural agreement aims to reduce nitrogen emissions by 10,800 tons by 2027. However, in order for Denmark to meet the EU’s requirements for good water quality, emissions must be reduced by 13,100 tons, according to DR. Concerns about Denmark’s marine environment received particular attention after an exposé by DR revealed that the Ministry of Environment has illegally prioritized economic considerations over environmental concerns. This has been done through permits for the discharge of environmentally harmful substances in marine areas from, among others, the pesticide factory Cheminova, which is in violation of the EU’s Water Framework Directive. Additionally, in September of last year, the worst oxygen depletion in the inner Danish waters in 20 years was reported. This has led to an emergency package of 405 million Danish crowns over four years to help the marine environment, of which 71 million crowns will be used to purchase facilities and areas that reduce the amount of nitrogen in Vejle Fjord and Limfjorden this year. “In my eyes, there has been decades of failure, where successive governments and varying majorities and no parties in the Parliament can claim to be free from responsibility for the situation our fjords are in,” the minister said on Wednesday.