Nature and the environment
in Denmark have made clear progress in the areas
where society has focused its efforts. There are
many examples to show that development is going
in the right direction - where objectives are
being fulfilled and environmental impact is falling.
This is the conclusion of the most recent summary
of the state of the environment from Denmark's
National Environmental Research Institute (NERI).
However, a number of areas exist, where society
has not yet managed to turn the tide on the problems
and where the environment is still deteriorating.
Those finding themselves along
Denmark's coastline this spring cannot help but
notice the greater numbers of greylag geese in
recent years. The increase in the greylag goose
and in our other waterfowl is partly due to changes
in hunting practices, but also the many new hunting-free
reserves which have been established in the period
1993-2002.
The impact from agriculture
on the environment is another good example of
that development is going in the right direction,
despite that a range of individual impacts still
exceed levels the environment can withstand. Farmers
have succeeded in bringing down the emission of
ammonia from animal housing units and fields by
around 30 % over the period 1985-2002. And the
leaching of nitrogen from fields has fallen by
around 48 % from 1989 to 2003. Finally, agriculture
has reduced the use of pesticides, herbicides
and the like, as evidenced in the decline in the
frequency of crop-spraying per year per field
of 18 % from the beginning of the 1980s to 2003.
A third example is energy. Energy
consumption is by far the greatest source of greenhouse
gas emissions from society in Denmark, but energy-savings
in industry and in heating have, together with
a considerable extension of sustainable energy,
contributed to curbing the emission of CO2. However,
there is still some way to go before we can fulfil
the Danish goals for Kyoto.
Effective cleaning has removed
93 % of the emission of sulphur from energy production
since 1980 and 50 % of the emission of nitrogen
oxides since 1985.
Difficult challenges
The new report also tells of a range of areas
where the impact on nature and the environment
continues to grow in line with growth in society's
activities. Here, personal transportation is a
really "good" example. Car transport
accounts for 80 % of personal transportation and
car traffic continues to increase in line with
economic growth.
Car traffic gives rise to serious environmental
problems. Roads create barriers within the landscape,
and cars make noise and emit particles in the
exhaust, which are damaging to human health. Wood-burning
stoves in private households are another significant
source of pollution with particles. Here, taxes
imposed on other fuels have indirectly promoted
the use of wood for heating in the home. We, therefore,
burn more wood in wood-burning stoves, but unfortunately
this represents a serious source of particulate
pollution. The above has consequences for our
health. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry
of Health estimate that 3,400 Danes suffer premature
death each year due to particulate air pollution.
A third challenge which society
has not yet come to terms with is the destruction
of open habitats, such as meadows, commons and
heath. Open habitats comprise in the region of
80 % of our natural or semi-natural habitat, and
are the home for 63 % of threatened plant species.
Open habitats are especially threatened by becoming
overgrown and by enrichment from nitrogen which
is deposited from the air.
The easier problems have been
solved
When we compare Denmark with the rest of the world,
we have come a long way in solving a range of
environmental problems by means of effective environmental
technology and a well-organised society. Nevertheless,
we are still one of the countries with the highest
consumption of goods, resources and energy. This
leads to a considerable impact on the environment
and nature, not just at home in Denmark but also
abroad, as a result of our imports.
But why is it now that we have
managed to solve some of the problems, but continue
to have difficulty in solving others? Research
Director, Hanne Bach explains:
- We have typically approached
the problems from the easier end. During the course
of the 1970s and 1980s, we tackled classic pollution
which comes out of a pipe or a chimney. Over the
past 15 years, we have turned our attention to
the first of the more complex challenges, e.g.
nutrient pollution from agriculture. The problems
which remain are those for which a simple and
easy solution is not to be found - or where the
problems are deeply embedded in our lifestyle,
e.g. our cars.
