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Denmark's Third National Communication on Climate Change

1 Executive Summary

1.1 National circumstances relevant to greenhouse gas emissions and removals

1.1.1 General

The Kingdom of Denmark comprises Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Changes has been ratified on behalf of all three parts of the Kingdom.

Today, Denmark has a population of slightly more than 5.3 million and a total area of 43,000 km². More than 60% of the area is used for agricultural purposes, while 11% is forested and 13% is towns, roads and scattered housing, while the rest consists of natural areas, including lakes, bogs, heath, etc.

The Danish climate is temperate with precipitation evenly distributed over the year. The mean annual temperature is 7.7ºC and mean annual precipitation is 712 mm.

Since 1993 Denmark has benefitted from considerable economic growth, and Gross National Product (GNP) has risen on average by 2.7% per year. In the year 2000 GNP amounted to over DKK 1,300 billion, corresponding to DKK 245,000 per capita.

1.1.2 Energy, transport and the domestic sector

Denmark is self-sufficient in energy, due primarily to the production of oil and gas in the North Sea, but renewable energy is also increasingly contributing to the country’s energy supply. Denmark’s total own production of energy has more than tripled during the last decade.

Despite strong economic growth, energy consumption has remained largely unchanged at around 800 PJ in the period in question.

Denmark’s dependence on oil and coal has fallen, and particularly within electricity and heat production, Denmark has succeeded in substituting with other fuels. Renewable energy accounts for about 12% of Denmark’s actual energy consumption. Actual energy consumption, which amounted to 829 PJ in 2001, was distributed over the following energy sources: oil 366 PJ (44%), natural gas 194 PJ (23%), coal 175 PJ (21%) and renewable energy 96PJ (12%). The net export of electricity was relatively small, corresponding to 2 PJ.

The distribution of gross energy consumption in 2001 was as follows: industry and agriculture accounted for 27%, domestic sector for 27%, transport for 24% and commerce and service for 15%. Refining and non-energy purposes accounted for the remaining 7%.

More than 2/3 of the electricity supply comes from large primary power stations or CHP plants, while the district heat supply covers almost half of the need for heating. The energy sector alone (energy production and supply) accounts for 40% of Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases.

Traffic has increased considerably in the last 10 years. Passenger traffic (excl. motor cycle, 2-stroke and bicycle traffic) increased from 64 billion person-kilometres in 1990 to 74 billion in 2001. In the same period, freight transport by road increased from 12 billion tonne-km to14 billion. The transport sector accounts for 18% of Denmark’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

The domestic sector accounted for about 6% of Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases in 2001.

1.1.3 Business sector and waste

Industry’s production value accounts for about 30% of total production. The largest sectors of industry are food and beverages, engineering, electronics and the chemical industry. The total business sector (industry, building and construction, together with public and private services) accounts for about 13% of Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases. By far the largest part of these emissions, is CO₂ from energy consumption, but the sector is also a source of emissions of industrial greenhouse gases.

The waste sector’s methane emissions account for 2% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Methane emissions from the waste sector are expected to fall in the future due to the obligation the municipalities have had since 1997 to send combustible waste for incineration. In addition, gas from a number of landfill sites is used in energy production, which helps to reduce both CO₂ and methane emissions.

1.1.4 Agriculture and forestry

In the last 40 years the agricultural area in Denmark has fallen from 72% (30,900 km²) of the total area in 1960 to 62% (26,756 km²) in 2001. The number of farms has fallen by 50%, from 119,155 in 1980 to 53,489 in 2001, while the average size of farms has increased by more than 100% in the same period, from 24 ha to 50 ha. At approximately 11%, agricultural exports will account for a considerable proportion of all Danish exports. The agricultural sector accounted for about 20% of Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases in 2001.

Approximately 11% of Denmark is forested, and the Forestry Act protects a very large part of the existing forest from other land use. The ambition is to have about 20-25% of Denmark’s area forested by the end of the 21st century.

1.1.5 Greenland and the Faroe Islands

Greenland is the world’s largest island, with an area of 2.2 million km², 85% of which is covered by the ice cap. From north to south, Greenland extends over 2,600 km. Greenland has a population of slightly more than 56,000, and fishing is the main occupation.

Greenland’s climate is Arctic, and forests do not grow in Greenland. The warmest recorded temperature since 1958 is 25.5ºC, while temperatures can go down below –70 ºC on the inland ice.

The Faroe Islands consist of 18 islands with a total area of 1,399 km² and have a population of around 47,000. The climate is characterised by mild winters and cool summers and the weather is often moist and rainy. The mean annual temperature is 6.5 ºC.

Fish and fisheries account for 98% of the Faroe Island’s total export earnings, apart from exports of ships, which vary greatly over the years. Agriculture was the main occupation until the end of the 19th century but now only accounts for 0.7% of gross national product at factor cost. There are more than 1,000 head of cattle and about 70,000 sheep on the Faroe Islands.

Table 1.1
Denmark’s total emissions and removals of greenhouse gases 1990-2001

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1.2 Greenhouse gas inventory information

Denmark’s greenhouse gas inventories are prepared in accordance with the guidelines from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and are based on the methods developed under the European CORINAIR programme. Table 1.1 shows Denmark’s total emissions of the greenhouse gases CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O and the industrial gases HFCs, PFCs and SF₆ from 1990 to 2001, calculated in CO₂ equivalents in accordance with the general rules for inventories under the Climate Convention. Inventory based on the rules under the Kyoto Protocol will involve some changes with respect to base year and removals in connection with land use change and forestry (LUCF). As will be seen from this table, the total emissions in 2000 and 2001 were slightly below the total emissions in 1990. The main reasons for this are explained under the individual greenhouse gases and sectors.

1.2.1 Carbon dioxide, CO₂

Almost all CO₂ emissions come from combustion of coal, oil and natural gas at power stations and in residential properties and industry, although road transport also contributes a considerable proportion – about 20%. The relatively large fluctuations in the emissions from year to year are due to trade in electricity with other countries – primarily the Nordic countries.

The reduction in CO₂ emissions in recent years is due mainly to the fact that many power stations have changed their fuel mix from coal to natural gas and renewable energy. As a result of the reduced use of coal in recent years, most of the CO₂ emissions now come from combustion of oil.

Table 1.2
Denmark’s, Greenland’s and the Faroe Islands’ total emissions and removals of greenhouse gases, 1990 – 2001

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1.2.2 Methane, CH₄

The biggest source of man-made methane emissions is agriculture, followed by landfill sites and energy production. The emissions from agriculture are due to the formation of methane in the digestive system of farm animals and the handling of manure. The emissions from agriculture and landfill sites have both fallen by 10-11% since 1990 – in the first case because of a change in farm animal population, with a reduction in the cattle population and an increase in the pig population, and in the second because of increased collection and use of landfill gas in the period in question.

The emissions from energy production are rising because of increasing use of gas engines, which have large methane emissions compared with other combustion technologies.

1.2.3 Nitrous oxide, N₂O

Agriculture is by far the main source of emissions of nitrous oxide because this forms in soil through bacterial conversion of nitrogen in fertiliser and manure. Bacterial conversion of nitrogen also occurs in drain water and coastal water. It will be seen that there has been a considerable fall in nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture since 1990. That is due to less and better use of fertiliser. A small proportion of the nitrous oxide emissions comes from the exhaust of cars fitted with a catalytic converter.

1.2.4 The industrial gases HFCs, PFCs and SF₆

The contribution of industrial greenhouse gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF₆) to Denmark’s total emissions of greenhouse gases is relatively modest, but in percentage terms, the emissions of these gases showed the biggest rise during the 1990s. The HFCs, which are primarily used in the refrigeration industry, are the biggest contributor to industrial greenhouse gas emissions. In 2001 industrial gases accounted for about 1% of total emissions of greenhouse gases, corresponding to approximately 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents. However, in 2001 and 2002 new regulatory instruments, including both taxes and bans, were adopted.

1.2.5 Denmark’s, Greenland’s and the Faroe Islands’ total emissions and removals of greenhouse gases

The total inventories for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are reproduced in table 1.2. As will be seen the Climate Convention’s goal of reduction of the emissions to the 1990 level in 2000 was achieved. The combined level for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands in 2000 was 1.1% below the 1990 level.

For the time being, the inventories from Greenland contain only inventories of the CO₂ emissions from combustion of fossil fuels. However, this is regarded as by far the main source of greenhouse gases.

The inventories for the Faroe Islands contain not only the CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel but also the methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

In accordance with the rules of the Kyoto Protocol, Denmark has chosen 1995 as the base year for industrial greenhouse gases and, in the calculation under the Protocol has – for the time being – included only the removals in forests occurring as a consequence of afforestation since 1990. Denmark’s reduction obligation of 21% in 2008-2012 in relation to the base year (1990/95), is related to the EU’s total reduction obligation through the so-called burden-sharing agreement. The Faroe Islands are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol because of a territorial reservation taken at the time of the Kingdom of Denmark’s ratification of the Protocol.

The preliminary inventories form the basis for Denmark’s climate strategy described in chapter 4.

1.3 Policies and measures

Since the end of the 1980s and up through the 1990s a number of initiatives have been taken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The initiatives have produced important results – particularly with respect to CO₂ – and will also result in further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

The initiatives have been, and still are, targeted mainly on the sectors of society in which the activities result in considerable emissions of greenhouse gases and have had the purpose of broad environmental improvements in Denmark.

In February 2003 the government published Denmark’s new climate strategy. Cost effectiveness is a vital planning consideration in order to gets more environment for the money. The basis of the strategy is that Denmark must fulfil its international climate obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and according to the subsequent burden – sharing agreement in the EU.

On the basis of the latest projection of Denmark’s emissions of greenhouse gases, it is now estimated that, without new initiatives, there will be a shortfall of 20-25 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per year in the period 2008-12. The Kyoto Protocol makes it possible to plan climate action that is more flexible and that, globally, gives more environment for the money. The climate strategy combines cost-effective domestic measures with use of the Kyoto Protocol’s flexible mechanisms.

For many of the energy producers and a large part of the energy-intensive industry, the coming EU Directive on a Community scheme for trading with greenhouse gas emissions will form the framework for the coming action. The companies that are covered by the scheme, and whose activity will thus be limited by a quota, will be able to plan their climate action themselves. They can choose to reduce their own emissions, when it is most appropriate or buy quotas or credits from projectbased emission reductions, when it is deemed most suitable. The companies covered by the scheme will thus have the possibility of ongoing adjustment of their action so that it is always as effective as possible.

Besides quotas and the use of flexible mechanisms, the climate strategy includes a number of national measures, including existing measures that are being continued and new, potential measures that will be considered on the way.

Since the reduction costs in the different sectors are continuously changing, in part due to technology development and changed economic framework conditions, the strategy includes regular evaluation of the action so that the most cost-effective policies and measures are chosen.

In connection with the climate strategy it is estimated that the international price level for quotas/credits is hardly likely to exceed DDK 100 per tonne CO₂ equivalent, with a price level of DKK 40-60 as the most probable.With this price level, it will be considerably cheaper to buy international quotas/credits than to implement most of the national reduction measures.

In a comparison with the national mechanisms it is important to be aware that these must typically be seen in a sector-political context, in which climate is only one among many considerations in the policy being planned. For example, a fundamental consideration in the energy sector is security of supply, which, all else being equal, is improved by lower energy consumption and a multiple energy supply.

An interministerial committee will regularly evaluate the cost effectiveness of the national measures, including new policies and measures. The government has set an economic benchmark of DKK 120/tonne CO₂ equivalent to be used as a basis for implementing national policies and measures outside the area covered by the EU trading scheme. The latest calculations indicate that only relatively few national policies and measures with a significant potential that do not exceed DKK 120/tonne CO₂ equivalent would be able to compete with the price of using the flexible mechanisms. This must also be seen in the light of the fact that Denmark has already done a great deal nationally up through the 1990s, while there is a large, unexploited potential in other countries.

For the national measures, where the analyses show relatively low reduction costs, all in all the potential is not sufficient to remove the Danish shortfall. On the other hand, there is considered to be sufficient potential to buy quotas and credits internationally.

The energy sector

The energy sector is at the centre of the efforts to reduce the emissions of CO₂. Many initiatives have been taken over a long period of years to reduce the emissions, and work is still going on to find the best and most cost-effective initiatives.

Some measures can bring general pressure to bear on players in the energy sector to reduce their CO₂ emissions. Denmark’s Quota Act, which regulates the emissions of CO₂ from the open, market-regulated production of electricity, is an example.

Taxes have also been used for a number of years as measures to reduce the CO₂ emissions from the energy sector – partly with a view to a general reduction and partly to promote the use of fuels with lower CO₂ emissions, mainly biomass. Such taxes are still used.

Increased use of CHP and enlarging the areas receiving district heat have been main elements of the Danish strategy to promote efficient use of energy resources ever since the end of the 1970s.

Renewable energy sources are promoted with economic measures, including the tax system and through direct production grants.

It is estimated that expected rising electricity exports would result in a considerable increase in emissions unless measures were taken to prevent this. However, electricity production is covered by the proposal for an EU Directive on a scheme for emissions trading, and Denmark’s climate strategy is thus based on the assumption that electricity production will be covered by the EU’s quota scheme from 2005.

The transport sector

Efforts to turn the upward trend in emissions of greenhouse gases in the transport sector have so far failed, in part because it is extremely difficult to reduce the CO₂ emissions in this sector in Denmark, which is not a carmaking country, without international initiatives.

The transport sector’s possibility, with national measures, of contributing to reduction of Denmark’s CO₂ emissions shows that the cost-effectiveness of the measures depends entirely on the side effects. The decision to implement the different measures within the transport sector must therefore to a great extent be evaluated on the basis of the measure’s other effects and not simply from the point of view of reduction of CO₂ emissions.

The business sector

The ongoing initiatives to reduce the emissions from the business sector include both promotion of energy savings and energy efficiency improvements, conversion of energy production to cleaner fuels and initiatives to reduce the emissions of industrial gases.

Work to improve energy efficiency in the public sector has been going on for more than 10 years, and considerable savings have been achieved. However, there are still economically viable possibilities for savings. In continuation of the provisions in the Act on Promotion of Savings in Energy Consumption from 2000 and several energy policy agreements, plans are in hand to tighten the action, especially in the public sector.

The regulation of emissions of the industrial greenhouse gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF₆) is 2-phased, consisting partly in a tax and partly in a statutory order on discontinuation of the use of the gases in new installations. The tax is imposed on the substances on importation because none of them is produced in Denmark.

In July 2002 a statutory order on regulation of the industrial greenhouse gases went into force. It includes a general ban on use of the industrial greenhouse gases in a wide range of new installations/products from 1 January 2006, including, for example, domestic refrigerators and freezers, PUR foam, etc.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Within the agricultural sector the following measures have reduced or will reduce emissions: i) ban on burning of straw on fields, ii) the biomass agreement on use of straw for fuel, iii) Action Plans for the Aquatic Environment I and II and Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture, and iv) the Ammonia Action Plan.

The Action Plans for the Aquatic Environment and the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture have, in particular, reduced the emissions of nitrous oxide, and most of the changes in emissions of nitrous oxide from the agriculture sector that have taken place since 1990 can be attributed to these action plans.

2001 brought the adoption of an Ammonia Action Plan, which together with Action Plans for the Aquatic Environment I and II, will reduce ammonia evaporation.

The purpose of banning burning of straw has been to reduce air pollution from this activity. The ban has resulted in greater return of carbon to the soil and increased use of straw as a fuel.

The purpose of the biomass agreement is to increase use of biomass for energy purposes through the establishment or conversion of power stations and CHP plants for use of this fuel. Straw as a fuel substitutes fossil fuels.

The national forest programme includes evaluation of the possibilities offered by the Kyoto Protocol for economically viable CO₂ sequestation sequestation in forests. The political goal with the most direct influence on increased carbon sequestation is the declaration of intent from 1989 to double the forested area in Denmark within 100 years.Various measures have been taken towards achieving this goal. For instance, a government grant scheme has been establish that supports private afforestation on agricultural land and the state itself establishes new forests. In addition, some private individuals choose to establish forests on agricultural land without a government grant.

The domestic sector

With a view to reducing both direct and indirect CO₂ emissions from the domestic sector, a wide range of initiatives have been launched. The initiatives promote i) electricity savings, ii) savings in energy consumption for space heating and iii) fuel conversion (from electric heat and oil to district heat, natural gas and renewable energy).

Following up on the climate strategy new energy-saving initiatives are expected, including of standards for products’ energy efficiency.

The waste sector

The waste sector’s contribution to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions consists mainly in: i) reducing landfilling of organic waste, ii) utilising gas from discontinued/existing landfill sites and iii) using the waste as an energy source.

In 1996 the statutory order on waste was amended to introduce a municipal obligation to assign combustible waste to incineration (corresponding to a ban on deposition of combustible waste). As a result of this, large quantities of combustible waste that used to go to landfill sites are now either recycled or used as fuel in Denmark’s incineration plants. Future action will consist mainly in a continued ban on landfilling of combustible waste and implementation of Waste 21.

Table 1.3
Denmark’s Expected Emissions Of Greenhouse Gases

*Note: The base year data and shortfall calculation used in connection with the climate strategy are shown in brackets.

1.4 Projections and the total effect of policies and measures

The latest projections from February 2003 cover the period 2001-2017. The calculations for the period 2013-2017, however, must be described as somewhat less certain that the projections up to 2013 because the uncertainty concerning the policies and measures and their expected effect increases with time. In the climate strategy from February 2003, the inventories of how much Denmark is expected to lack in order to meet the obligations entered into on the basis of the existing mechanisms, policies and measures have been calculated both taking account of electricity import in 1990 and not taking account of this.

According to the latest inventories of greenhouse gas emissions, Denmark’s legal reduction obligation of 21% means that the emissions must be reduced from 69.5 million tonnes CO₂ equivalents in the base year 1990, to 54.9 million CO₂ equivalents in the period 2008-2012, as shown in table 1.3.

It should be noted that the latest historical inventory of greenhouse gas emissions covers the period 1990-2001, so the projection for 2001 in this report has been replaced with the historical inventory for 2001. Since this new inventory also includes an update of the 1990 figures as a consequence of new knowledge, the base year – and thus also the shortfall – has been changed slightly in relation to the inventory in the climate strategy.

Denmark’s expected annual emissions in the period 2008-2012 have been calculated at 80.1 million tonnes CO₂ equivalents. However, the size of the total greenhouse gas emissions depends greatly on CO₂ emissions related to electricity exports, which are expected to account for 9.9 million tonnes CO₂ equivalents per year in 2008 - 2012.

1.5 Vulnerability assessment, climate change impacts and adaptation

Analyses with global and regional climate models show the following general trend for the climate in Denmark in 2100 in relation to 1990:

The analyses do not directly give scenarios for future changes in water level, but earlier studies show slightly smaller rises around Denmark than the global rises because of vertical land movements. For example, it is estimated that an average global rise in water level of 0.5 m will lead to a rise of about 0.4 m around Denmark.

The general conclusion has been that the direct impacts in moderate climate scenarios will be moderate for Denmark and can be countered by suitable, ongoing adaptation. Danish studies of – and preparation for – impacts of climate changes have so far been very modest, and there are as yet no actual action plans.

For Danish agriculture, the overall effects are estimated to be advantageous. Changes in cultivation practice can be implemented at short notice, and production is expected to grow with rising temperature and CO₂ concentration.

Danish field and greenhouse studies have shown that climate change will generally promote tree growth, particularly for the species with the northern limit of their spread in Southern Scandinavia. The only species of tree that will show decline is the Norway spruce.

About 1,800 km of the 7,400 km coastline are protected with dikes or other permanent installations, and increasing use is being made of soft solutions, particularly beach feeding.

Analyses with global climate models show the following general trend for the climate in Greenland in 2100 in relation to 1990:

Analyses with global climate models show the following general trend for the climate on the Faroe Islands in 2100 in relation to 1990:

1.6 Financial resources and transfer of technology

The Danish development cooperation is financed mainly by a facility for assistance to developing countries (DKK 10.5 billion in 2002), the main purpose of which is to promote sustainable development through poverty-oriented growth. Denmark has been in the lead with respect to making funds available for environmental action in the developing countries and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, partly in the facility for assistance under the Developing Countries Facility and partly through the establishment of the Environment, Peace and Stability Facility (MIFRESTA) as an element of Denmark’s follow-up on the Rio Conference in 1992. Overall, Denmark will continue to provide extensive support for the benefit of the environment in the developing countries, since it is estimated that more than 15% of the facility for assistance to developing countries is used for environmental assistance.

1.7 Research and systematic observations

Research and observations within climate in the broad sense of the word are going on at a number of institutes and organisations and cover a wide range of disciplines, from natural science to evaluation of policies and measures and societal aspects.

Denmark’s Meteorological Institute (DMI) carries out observations of climate parameters (atmosphere and ocean), including observations under the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)’s programmes and subprogrammes. Climate observations, together with climate research, have been one of DMI’s main tasks for more than 125 years, with measurement, theory and modelling.

The Danish research competence concerning physical expressions of past climate change is to be found at Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), which also has competencies in glaciological studies of Greenland’s ice cap and its interaction with climate change, and the importance of climate change for water’s cycle in nature. Besides research in the climate system, the climate-related research includes research concerning the driving forces for emissions of greenhouse gases and their burden on the environment, the state of the environment – physical, chemical and biological, effects and climate changes and society’s possibilities for response and regulation.

The National Environmental Research Institute, the Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Risø National Laboratory are all involved in these climaterelated research areas. In addition, several of the country’s universities also work with different aspects of climate research.

It is partly only the basis of research competencies in the above-mentioned areas that Denmark also participates actively in IPCC’s work. In addition, the Danish climate research contributes to a wide range of international projects under the World Climate Research Programme. Danish climate research increased steadily in the period 1998 to 2001, from 172 man-years in 1998 to 189 man-years in 2001. The budget increased correspondingly from DKK 94 million in 1998 to DKK 114 million in 2001. Of this, foreign funding accounted for just under 30%.

Since the establishment of DMI in 1872 the institute has monitored the main climate parameters. In the climate monitoring programme, classic methods of measurement are used and new, satellite-based observation methods are developed.

DMI operates around 200 automatic measuring stations in the Kingdom (Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands) with a broad measuring programme ranging from automatic water level or precipitation stations that measure only one parameter to stations with a full measuring programme, including automatic cloud height detectors and weather type detectors. For collection of precipitation data DMI also operates a network of 500 manual precipitation stations, which are used mainly for mapping the precipitation climatology.

Besides being of use for national programmes, the observations concern Denmark’s international contribution in the form of observation components from Danish territory to the worldwide meteorological observation network WWW (World Weather Watch), GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) and other international programmes for mapping weather and climate.

The meteorological observations are stored in DMI’s database, and observations from many Danish stations are available in electronic form right back to 1872, water level measurements back to 1890, and measurements of the surface temperature of the sea back to 1931. In 2001, 75,000 observations were added to the database each day, and the total number of observations in the database is around 245,000,000.

1.8 Education, training and public awareness

In Denmark there is an ongoing public debate in the media and elsewhere about the manmade greenhouse effect and its political reaction in the form of policies and measures. Denmark has a long tradition for involving the public and, in the environment field, this tradition was followed up by an international agreement – the Århus Convention from 1998. A considerable amount of information on climate change and Danish policies is provided on the websites of the Ministry of Environment (www.mim.dk), the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (www.mst.dk), the Ministry of Finance (www.fm.dk), the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs (www.oem.dk) and the Danish Energy Authority (www.ens.dk).

NERI has prepared a range of climate reports, which, together with other climate information, e.g. climate data, are published on NERI’s website www.dmu.dk. DMI has a climate website at www.dmi.dk, providing current and historical climate data, together with a basic description of the climate system and climate processes, and themes on new results from the international scientific literature.

DMI participates in a number of international projects, with support primarily from the EU Commission’s framework research programmes, which involve exchange of knowledge and post-graduate training of Danish research scientists. In addition, addition, the Institute contributes to IPCC’s work, and the results from that, which are communicated to the public.

A number of initiatives are being carried out to promote environmentally sound behaviour in companies and households, particularly for climate reasons, and with respect to energy use. Labelling schemes, printed matter, information lines, media spots and similar are used to increase public knowledge of possibilities for action and knowledge of less environmentally harmful technologies.