These eight objectives and principles reflect the areas where a special need exists for Denmark to work at achieving sustainable development.

1. Denmark must develop the welfare society and decouple economic growth from environmental impact

Denmark must halve its public sector debt by 2010, and we must repay our foreign debt. Over the next 30 years, we will see a rapid increase in the number of older people, while economically active persons will account for a steadily diminishing share of the population. If we maintain the government budget surplus, we can repay a large share of our national debt in the years ahead. The money we are currently paying as interest can be redirected towards meeting the rising costs of pensions, home-help schemes, old-age care, hospitals, etc.

All Danes must be guaranteed a dignified and safe old age - whether or not they have had an opportunity to save. State retirement pension will continue to play a pivotal role in the pensions system of tomorrow, which will be financed by the interest expenses saved and by labour market reforms which increase the workforce. In addition, Danish labour market pensions will expand as the ratio of older people to the population at large grows. Labour market pensions and privately provided pensions will thus supplement the state retirement pension.

We must create a more socially inclusive labour market where more persons join the workforce and there is room for those who do not fully meet the high demands for efficiency. Conditions for members of the workforce aged 50 or over need to be improved to reduce the number of people claiming early-retirement benefits, anticipatory pension, etc. Flexible working arrangements should also be facilitated. Development must not hurt the weakest groups. We must become better at using the workforce resource represented by immigrants, at ensuring that fewer claimants require cash benefits and at preventing sickness absence.

The achievement of sustainable development calls for enhanced initiatives. In various important areas we have managed to decouple economic progress from pollution problems. This applies to the energy area, for example. Other areas, however, still present sweeping challenges.

Some impacts on our health, environment, nature or resource utilisation are so critical as to demand new solutions. For example, the impact on the climate system is crucial because even small impacts on the balance of the system are expected to have serious implications for life on Earth.

Sustainable development implies a balance between generations. We must pass on to future generations a society in a state that will offer them at least as favourable opportunities for a good life as we have. Therefore, we must safeguard our economic, social and environmental resources. We must avoid critical impacts on the environment, nature and health, and we must protect and preserve special and unique natural values, which cannot be restored if they disappear.

These challenges should be met through a broad range of measures. Regulation in the form of prohibitions and orders must be supplemented with instruments such as taxes, subsidies, transferable quotas, information and dialogue. Research into causal relations and into new environmental and societal problems influences society's ability to take the proper, preventive decisions at an early point and thereby to achieve sustainable development.

Indicators can tell us whether society is heading for sustainable development. These may include indicators measuring impacts on critical nature and environment factors and indicators showing whether economic growth is being decoupled from pressures on the environment and nature. The "Genuine Savings" concept is an economic indicator for developments in the total wealth of society. This concept is used to determine the value of economic, social and environmental resources. The Genuine Savings concept is being developed and must be supplemented by analyses of critical impacts on health, the environment and nature. Combined with the other indicators, Genuine Savings can provide a picture of whether or not developments can be described as sustainable. The first analysis from 1998 seems to indicate that Genuine Savings are positive in Denmark.

2. Denmark must create a safe and healthy environment for everyone and maintain a high level of protection

The environmental quality in Denmark must not be harmful to humans, animals and plant life. Steps must be taken to ensure that the soil, air and water are sufficiently clean and free from harmful substances and microorganisms so as not to be hazardous to the health of humans, plants and animals.

Climate changes are among the greatest global challenges of this century. Therefore, we should stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases at a level that prevents harmful, man-made effects on the climate system. To live up to the Kyoto Protocol, Denmark has undertaken to reduce total emissions of greenhouse gases by 21 per cent from the 1990 level in the years 2008 to 2012. The benchmark is to halve CO₂ emissions by 2030.

The manufacture, use and disposal of products and goods must not be harmful to the environment and human health. The Government is formulating a comprehensive strategy, focusing on the measures that are being or can be taken in relation to the health impact of environmental factors. Consumption of hazardous chemicals must be reduced to a minimum. Industry must assume responsibility for examining the hazards of chemicals and ensure that they can be used without jeopardising health and the environment. We are taking active steps against hazardous chemicals, and in 2020 it will not be allowed to market or use any products containing chemicals that entail particularly undesirable effects on health or the environment

A high level of protection for humans and the environment is important. The precautionary principle will be instrumental in securing this protection and is a principle recognised in EU and Danish policies. We must take action at the smallest hint of any unacceptable risk or hazard.

3. Denmark must secure a high degree of biological diversity and protect the ecosystems

Nature and the ecosystems are vital to all life on Earth. The development potential of both present and future generations depends on viable and varied natural resources. This is why we must enhance the quality of nature and double the forest area.

International projections show that global economic development over the next 20 years will endanger the world's biological diversity. That is why we must reduce the physical impacts on nature and in particular the discharge to nature of nutrients and environmentally harmful substances. In the interests of our descendants, industries that are detrimental to nature must adjust their use of natural resources.

Certain values inherent in cultural and natural landscapes, special landscape types and the diversity of species and genetic pools are irreplaceable. We must strengthen and target the initiatives to protect biodiversity by developing an interconnected network of natural areas and enhancing the quality of existing natural areas. We must ensure the population improved access to outdoor recreation and enjoyment of nature in all forests and in the open country. Finally, we must safeguard our cultural environment, including cultural traces in the landscape and the cultural heritage that lives on in rural districts and coastal regions.

4. Denmark must use resources more efficiently

Over the coming years, we can expect a growing population and increasing economic wealth - also in developing countries. We must therefore use the available quantity of natural resources in a sustainable way. Danish companies must continue adjusting production to a smaller input of resources per unit produced to be successful in the global market, where scarcity of resources must be anticipated.

Production and consumption generate waste and cause pollution. We must adjust our patterns of consumption and methods of production so that the production and consumption of goods and services are less detrimental to the environment and offer improved resource utilisation. During the years ahead, resources must be used more efficiently to limit waste volumes and cut down the dispersion of pollutants.

A long-term benchmark is to improve resource efficiency substantially within a generation. Above all, we must limit consumption of natural resources that are scarce, particularly sensitive or polluting. In the long term, we must limit resource consumption to about 25 per cent of the present level. In the even longer term, resource efficiency may have to improve still further. This should be seen against the backdrop of international discussions on the formulation of targets for resource efficiency improvement in the order of a factor 4 over the next two or three decades and a factor 10 in the longer term. This process was initiated at the UN Special Session of General Assembly (UNGASS), held five years after the Rio Conference. Factor 4 means that resource efficiency is increased by a factor of four compared with the present level - i. e. a 100 per cent increase in utility value combined with a 50 per cent reduction in resource consumption. The factor ten concept implies a 50 per cent cut in global material flows and an equal distribution of resource consumption among the global population. This means that the industrialised countries will have to achieve resource efficiency improvements in the order of factor 10.

Technological breakthroughs and innovation are necessary. We must continue to develop new technology, new materials and new solutions to redirect society towards sustainable development. The wider use of existing technologies and new technological breakthroughs present an opportunity to develop more sustainable methods of production. New sources of energy, for instance fuel cells, will be capable of reducing CO₂ emissions significantly. The use of new types of materials can lower resource consumption and open up more recycling possibilities. Information - and biotechnology may also pave the way for new environmentfriendly production methods and products. Therefore, it is important to provide the right framework and a strong platform for the development and dissemination of new environmental technologies and for the removal of any barriers to the market access of such technologies.

5. Denmark must take action at the international level

Denmark will continue to work actively to promote global sustainable development. In the areas where we possess special knowledge or that are high on the political agenda, Denmark is ready to take the lead.

Denmark will contribute to creating a world of peace and stability building on democracy and respect for human rights. Denmark must sustain its efforts to reduce poverty and achieve growth and social development in the poor countries of the world. Economic and social development in the poor regions of the world must contribute to global sustainable use of resources and conservation of nature and environment. Denmark's development assistance currently accounts for one per cent of its gross national income, approximately DKK 12.7 billion. To this should be added the actual environmental assistance in the order of DKK 2 billion. Denmark will continue to give priority to multilateral and bilateral assistance to developing countries in partnership with governments, civil societies and business communities in these countries. This contribution has been instrumental in strengthening Denmark's international credibility and goodwill.

Many of the environmental problems we are facing are global or regional. Thus, they can only be solved through international co-operation. Denmark is working actively to improve European and international environmental protection through EU co-operation. We will continue contributing to the ongoing follow-up and implementation of the EU's Sixth Environment Action Programme. Denmark will help integrate environmental considerations into EU sector policies, and attaches importance to ensuring that the EU heads of state and government follow these endeavours. Denmark will hold the EU presidency in the second half of 2002. This will afford us a special opportunity to set high-priority objectives on the agenda. Not only in an EU context, but also in the broader contexts where the EU plays a role. Denmark will work for an active follow-up to the OECD's sustainable development strategy along the lines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on sustainable development held under the Danish chairmanship in May 2001.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development is scheduled for September 2002 in South Africa. Denmark, holding the presidency of the EU, will work for the creation of a new global agreement on sustainable development and global partnership. Elements of such a deal could be that industrial countries undertake to decouple economic growth from environmental impact and support developing countries in their possibilities of realising growth and reducing poverty. Elements could be improved market access, debt relief, investments and technology transfer. At the same time, all countries must live up to their international commitments and integrate environmental considerations into their production and administration.

6. Denmark must ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account in all sectors

The integration of environmental considerations into policies and decision-making processes is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development where economic growth, increasing environmental impacts and growing resource consumption are decoupled from one another. This makes all sectors and authorities responsible for integrating considerations for the environment, health and sustainable development into all decisionmaking processes within their respective areas. This applies at the central as well as the local level.

An important model is the work within the EU to integrate environmental considerations into sectoral development, the so-called "Cardiff Process". This process means that all sectors are responsible for developing strategies and indicators for the integration of environmental considerations within their policy areas, with a view to achieving sustainable development.

In Denmark we have worked at integrating environmental considerations in various ways and at different levels. Bills and other Government proposals presented to Parliament are required to undergo a strategic environmental impact assessment to ensure that the environmental consequences form part of the decision-making basis. Similarly, the environmental impacts of large-scale, centralgovernment engineering works have to be assessed. Over the past decade, environmental action plans have been drawn up in a variety of policy areas.

Today, only 10 to 20 per cent of Danish companies regard environmental aspects as a competitive parameter. The vision is for the vast majority of Danish companies to turn the way they undertake their social responsibility into a strategic advantage in the market. This goal will mainly be accomplished by ensuring that companies integrate environmental considerations into their decisionmaking processes. The Government is formulating a green industrial development strategy, due for publication next autumn. The strategy focuses on strengthening environment-friendly behaviour and competitiveness in Danish companies.

However, there is still a need for strengthening the comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach. The integration of environmental considerations into sectors, policies and decisions will remain a crucial element in Denmark's commitment to sustainable development.

7. Denmark must ensure that the market supports sustainable development

Sustainable development and economic progress are not mutually incompatible. Companies engaged in significant environmental initiatives generally do well in competition. A forwardlooking commitment to the environment and sustainable development may stimulate competitiveness and transition to the knowledge economy.

It should pay to show environmental concern. One of the ways of achieving this is to ensure that those who produce, supply, dispose of or consume products and services pay the environmental costs. Prices that reflect the actual costs to society encourage consumers and producers to make sustainable choices. The polluter-pays principle must be followed consistently.

Green taxes, subsidies and tradable quotas represent some of the economic instruments that can be used for this purpose. The Government wishes to step up the use of economic instruments to solve environmental problems in the most costeffective manner for society.

The Government will uphold green taxes and consider the possibility of introducing new ones. Denmark will also work for taxes internationally, for example an international tax on aviation fuel. Green taxes and all other measures must be designed so as to offer an optimal environmental effect and an appropriate balance between environmental, economic and social considerations. The choice between different measures depends on the challenge to be addressed. It will often be necessary to choose a combination of measures that together generate the right changes in behaviour.

Achieving a market that supports sustainable development calls for consumers and, therefore, the market to make more demands on environmental initiatives by companies. The demand for and supply of environmentally friendly products and services must grow. Reliable information about how products affect the environment is important. The public sector must help provide the incentives and framework conditions that make it attractive for both manufacturers and consumers to supply and demand sustainable products. This will help assure that market forces succeed in achieving the environmental objectives in an efficient manner.

The public sector itself is an important consumer and therefore has the potential for influencing the market. The public sector must take the lead by pursuing a green procurement policy.

8. Denmark must ensure that sustainable development is a shared responsibility, and we must measure progress

Sustainable development is only achievable if all parties make a contribution and assume responsibility for integrating and promoting considerations for the environment and sustainable development in their decisions. Consumers and producers, employees of companies, society's institutions, children and young people are all key players in the cause of sustainable development. They must be involved and share in the responsibility. Information, education and teaching can disseminate knowledge about sustainable development and thereby change attitudes and behaviour.

The Aarhus Convention, specifying principles about the environmental rights of citizens, has now been introduced in Denmark. This means that every member of Danish society has easy access to information, is able to participate in decisionmaking and has access to justice in environmental matters. If we are to achieve sustainable development globally, these principles must also apply in other countries. Therefore, Denmark will work to ensure that the principles of the Aarhus Convention are employed more extensively in global and international conventions and legal instruments.

Research and development will assure us an updated, solid knowledge base, which includes research into fundamental causal relations and into how activities in society have a bearing on people and the environment. This will enable us to make the right decisions, prioritise activities and choose the right measures. Environmental economics, environmental behaviour, forecasts and scenarios for the anticipated development are core areas. Environment policy must be knowledge-based.

The Government will continuously monitor and report on the progress made in implementing this strategy. A set of indicators to cast light on the objectives and activities of the strategy has been proposed. A special website for sustainable development will be presented on the Internet. The indicators will be updated every year making it possible to keep abreast of our progress in meeting the objectives.

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