Dear Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Samira Nawa.

This summer At least 35.000 Europeans have lost their lives due to extreme heat. Forest fires have forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Rivers such as the Rhine and Danube have reached historically low water levels. Harvest yields have fallen, energy production has been affected, transportation has become more difficult, and the bill for climate change has been is growing across the European economy. It is tremendous. And it shows why strong political leadership is needed in these years. You and your ministerial colleagues around the world have a unique opportunity to mitigate the consequences of future climate change by reducing our dependence on coal, oil and gas.

However, French oil giant TotalEnergies wants to expand its production of oil and gas and has asked the government to extend the company's licenses in the North Sea. The government has not yet taken a position on the request..

A license extension will lead to investments in new oil wells and oil fields. But new oil and gas is in violation of the Paris Agreement and means more fuel for the climate fire burning in Europe. Therefore, we as Danish green organizations would like to strongly warn the government against extend oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.

The SVM government justified the proposal for a license extension with a desire to strengthen Europe's energy supply, security and independence. The concern is legitimate. But more Danish oil and gas is not the right solution.

Danish gas does not provide European security of supply

If the self-proclaimed "greenest government ever" cannot see that renewable energy is the only way to ensure cheap and secure energy for Europe, then things look bleak.

Tyra and the associated oil and gas fields can deliver up to 2,8 billion cubic meters of gas per year without a license extension, equivalent to twice Denmark's consumption. But from a European perspective, this only covers about one percent of the EU's total gas consumption. Even if one accepts that a slightly increased gas production in Denmark could contribute to European security of supply, it is a very limited amount on a European scale – and that does not make Europe less exposed to the global gas market. Renewable energy and electrification do, on the other hand.

Oil is traded on a global market, and European gas prices are affected by global LNG markets. This means that when oil and gas supplies are disrupted in one part of the world, prices in the EU are affected. The same is true of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused sharp price fluctuations, despite the fact that the EU only imports a small part of its fossil gas from the Gulf region.

The EU will never be able to control the price of oil and gas. However, expanding European renewable energy production, combined with electrification, will give Europe an energy supply based on our own resources, over which we have control, and which is less dependent on international prices.

In a new a prognostic The Danish Labour Movement's Business Council (AE) concludes that the Danish economy is expected to grow by 4,2 percent this year and points out, among other things, that the electrification of society means that our business community is more robust to oil prices than other countries. Furthermore, wind and solar are the cheapest source of new electricity production in Europe.

Denmark's special position is being diluted

When we invest in new fossil fuel wells, we are spending money, skills and labor to prolong an energy form that we know we need to move away from. It is an inefficient use of society's resources.

Instead, we must use our investments, labor and political energy to electrify Denmark and Europe. On energy efficiency, on the expansion of wind and solar, on electricity grids, storage and flexibility. This is where long-term energy independence lies. If we deliver on the EU's climate targets for 2040 and electrify the economy, the EU can cover its gas needs from existing fossil infrastructure in Norway, the UK and the EU as early as 2040..

When a broad majority in the Folketing in 2020 entered North Sea Agreement, Denmark made a historic choice: We would set an end date for oil and gas production and stop new government tender rounds.

That choice was never just about the amount of oil and gas that lies beneath the Danish part of the North Sea. It was also about the direction in which Denmark would try to pull the rest of the world. Based on the North Sea Agreement, Denmark helped establish the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), which is working internationally to get countries to phase out oil and gas production.

If the government extends licenses in the North Sea towards 2050 and opens up the possibility of additional production, we will dilute what has given Denmark a special position internationally. We cannot ask other countries to phase out fossil production with one hand while extending our own with the other.

As green organizations, we therefore call on the government to say no to an extension of the oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. Let the North Sea Agreement stand as it was intended to be: a Danish response to the climate crisis, but also an international signal that oil and gas producing countries must begin the phase-out.

Denmark should not pour more gasoline on the fire that is already burning around us. We must use our strength to put it out.

This article was published in Dagbladet Information on September 7, 2026, and is signed by:

• Katrine Ehnhuus, senior advisor at the Inter-Following Cooperation
• Daniel Hauberg, climate and energy policy advisor at the Danish Nature Conservation Society
• Maja Jakobsen, director of footprint, WWF World Wildlife Fund
• Christian Fromberg, political campaign manager, Greenpeace
• Markus Geisler, strategic coordinator, The Green Youth Movement
• Johanne Høgfeldt, coordinator, Fossil-free Future
• John Nordbo, senior climate policy advisor, Care
• Stine Bardeleben Helles, leader, Climate Movement in Denmark
• Mads Busck, Senior Political Advisor, Oxfam Denmark
• Poul Kattler, chairperson, Council for Sustainable Traffic
• Jakob Kronik, Secretary General, World Forests
• Julie Rosenkilde, director, Nyt Europa
• Ernst Jürgensen, Senior Advisor, Danmission
• Gunnar Olesen, political coordinator, Renewable Energy
• Jeppe Juul, Head of Secretariat, Green Transition Denmark