The Climate Council's status report provides a serious and necessary reminder that Denmark has no longer made it likely that the 2030 target will be achieved. The Council points out that several planned measures have not yet been implemented at the necessary pace. At the same time, the Climate Council emphasizes the need for a plan B if the targets are to remain credible.

This is worrying. According to the Danish Climate Council, when emissions in 2030 are higher than the government's climate projection from 2025 shows, it is mainly because the government's CCS tender appears to deliver fewer reductions than expected, and because the projections underestimate emissions from a number of areas, including agriculture, farmland and refineries. The Danish Green Transition Denmark believes that this calls for political action that ensures actual reductions rather than relying on optimistic assumptions.

Less technological one-sidedness and greater robustness in the energy system
The Climate Council points to challenges in connection with the CCS tenders and recommends a broader approach to support and instruments. Green Transition Denmark shares the assessment that Denmark must not become dependent on individual technologies, and that subsidies for transition elements other than CCS can be advantageously brought forward. Electrification and direct reductions should be the main path in a structural, long-term transformation. 

Stopping wood burning strengthens climate accounting
The Climate Council also highlights the need to strengthen net removals in the LULUCF sector and manage bioresources carefully. Green Transition Denmark further recommends a stop to the burning of wood for electricity and district heating from 2030. 

The use of Danish wood directly affects Denmark's climate accounts through the carbon balance in the forests. A stop will improve the climate accounts in the years after 2030 and contribute to raising the reduction level towards 2035. It reduces the need for uncertain compensation solutions and strengthens the transition to an energy system based on fossil-free electricity from wind and solar.

Uncertainties about potent methane require a national plan
The Climate Council points to uncertainties in several sectors, including agriculture and land use. A significant part of these uncertainties relates to underestimates of emissions and leaks from biogas production, manure management and livestock farming, all of which are associated with methane emissions.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a large short-term climate impact, which, measured over a 20-year period, warms the planet more than 80 times as much as CO2, and even small increases can have an impact on future climate goals. Similarly, reductions have a fast-acting effect on global warming and short-term climate goals.

The Council ofr Green Switchg therefore recommends that the government present a comprehensive national plan for methane reduction with measurement requirements, tighter methane limits and regulation of the entire biogas chain. A national methane reduction plan will also be a key element in concretizing the path towards meeting the climate target for 2035, as the Climate Council recommends the government do. Reducing uncertainties requires measuring and managing methane emissions much more systematically, and requires transforming agriculture towards less livestock production and more plant-based food production. 

The Climate Council's status report shows that Denmark cannot afford to let goal achievement rest on optimistic assumptions. Ambitious climate goals require timely implementation, a real Plan B and prioritization of solutions that directly strengthen the climate accounts.