Both Norway and Denmark have struggled with increasing emissions from public sector purchases. But while our Norwegian neighbors have cracked the code, emissions in Denmark are still steadily increasing. The climate footprint of public procurement is expected to increase from 14,3 million tonnes in 2019 to 15,6 million tonnes of CO₂e-emissions towards 2030, and this is primarily due to more investments in construction and facilities. This is despite the fact that the Danish Climate Act requires a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 70 percent by 2030.

The investment potential is great

The unstable geopolitical climate of the last few years has helped push up prices in the construction sector, which has made it difficult for public investors to meet their budgets and carry out projects that benefit the economy.

In October, you could study in Ingeniøren, that eight ongoing construction projects combined resulted in a socio-economic deficit of DKK 7 billion. These include projects such as the new railway between Aarhus and Silkeborg, the extension of Motorring 3 and the extension of route 26. In the same month, you could also read about Midtjysk Motorvej, whose budget has slipped by one billion, and therefore has to save on environmental considerations as fauna passengers and valley bridges. It is therefore obvious to question how much of the budget goes to climate considerations and innovation, and at the same time to set up a reassessment of the course that was set with the Infrastructure Plan 2035.

The public sector has enormous investment potential and, as an actor in the market, can play a central role in promoting green technologies and sustainable solutions. We have previously seen how public investments in the wind turbine industry led to a significant development and spread of wind turbines, which are now set up on market terms in Denmark.

By giving greater priority to less climate- and resource-intensive processes and materials in public projects, we will not only push the industry towards more sustainable technologies, materials and processes, but also create financial incentives for private investors. In this way, the public sector can contribute to the production of greener solutions growing and at the same time create a profitable business for private actors.

Norway has the solution

Now for the solution. Because in Norway you have the long end. From this year, all public purchases in Norway must weight climate and environmental considerations with a minimum of 30 percent in public tenders. In practice, this means that public purchasers no longer only have to deal with parameters such as quality and price, but also ensure the greatest possible climate and environmental benefit. It makes fantastic sense to utilize the competition parameters to strengthen the green transition. The background for the decision in Norway is that they want to bring the public procurement muscle into play in relation to halving Norway's CO₂- emissions towards 2030 compared to 1990.

We would therefore encourage the state apparatus to introduce a similar model for all public procurement, so that the Danish procurement capacity also comes into play in the green transition. As has been seen in Norway, there is great potential for competing on green measures across the public sector. When will the Danish state, the regions, the municipalities and public companies collectively buy in for approximately DKK 448 billion per year, they have a clear responsibility to lead the way.

In order to achieve the climate act's goals, it is essential that all sectors contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There is therefore no room for emissions from public procurement to continue to rise.

This debate entry was written by Mathias Lyng Nikolaisen and was published in Klimamonitor on 17/12 2024