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Danish parties strike deal to develop carbon tax

Denmark's parties have forced the government to significantly toughen the climate plan it put forward in May, with a new plan agreed on Sunday night increasing the amount of projected greenhouse gas reductions from 2m to 3.4m tonnes, and committing the government to developing a carbon tax.

Published: 22 June 2020 08:01 CEST
Danish parties strike deal to develop carbon tax
Denmark's finance minister Nicolai Wammen (centre), and negotiators from the other parties. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix
“When this government came in a year ago, we promised the Danes that we would put the climate on a pedestal and once again take the driving seat on green issues,” Denmark's finance minister, Nicolai Wammen, said after the deal was struck.  “That's something we are delivering in a big way today.” 
 
The centre-piece of the agreement, which is focused on energy and industry, is the creation of two “energy islands”, one artificial and one centred on the island of Bornholm, which together have the capacity to generate 5GW of power by 2030. 
 
The deal also includes a plan to subsidise carbon capture and Power-to-X technology which can turn power from the islands into green fuel. 
 
 
“With the establishment of the world's first two energy islands and the world's largest investment in green fuels, Denmark is taking global climate leadership seriously again,” climate minister Dan Jørgensen said. 
 
Morten Østergaard, leader of the Social Liberal Party, which had threatened to topple the government if a significant deal was not reached before the summer, hailed the agreement as a success.  
 
“This evening it became greener to be Danish,” Østergaard said on Twitter after the deal was struck. “Significant CO2 reductions and broad agreement on green tax reform. That's promising for a new quantum leap in the autumn.” 
 
 
The Danish Council on Climate Change, which consults on and evaluates the country's climate policies, has suggested that the current carbon tax of 177 Danish kroner ($26.6 dollars or 23.7 euros) per tonne should be increased to 1,500 kroner.
 
However, it is still not clear whether the government will follow the council's recommendations, and environmental groups did not share the government's enthusiasm for the new deal.
   
“We only see the relatively tenuous beginnings of a green transition in Denmark,” Helene Hagel, head of climate and environmental policy at Greenpeace Denmark, told AFP.
   
According to Hagel, the government will need to tax all greenhouse gases, not just CO2.
   
“It is essential to put a more precise price on pollution in the form of greenhouse gas taxes,” Hagel said.
 
 
The deal even won the backing of the populist Danish People's Party, which has in recent months suggested that Denmark should reduce its 70% emissions reduction goal to take into account the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. 
 
Only two parties, the New Right Party and Free Green Voices, refused to sign the agreement. 
 
“The Free Greens refuse to green stamp a government that has clearly not understood the urgent seriousness of the climate crisis,”  Sikandar Siddique, the independent MP representing the  latter group, said on Twitter. “That is why we are leaving the climate negotiations. A slow victory is a defeat.” 
Mette Abildgaard, spokesperson for the Conservative Party welcomed the agreement that any green tax would be revenue-neutral. 
 
“It is stated directly in the agreement that it should not be more expensive to do business in Denmark or more expensive to be a citizen of Denmark,” she said. “This will give us greener taxes, but we will not get a bigger tax burden.” 
 
   

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CLIMATE

Central and southern Italy brace for storms and heavy snow

Storms and snowfall are forecast across much of central and southern Italy over the next few days, according to weather reports.

Published: 29 November 2021 15:13 CET
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy.
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Italy’s Civil Protection Department on Monday issued ‘orange’ alerts for bad weather along Campania’s Tyrrhenian coastline and the western part of Calabria, while Sicily, Basilicata, Lazio, Molise, Umbria, Abruzzo, central-western Sardinia, and the remaining areas of Campania and Calabria are under a lower-level ‘yellow’ weather warning.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is warning Italy’s central-southern regions to prepare for a blast of polar air from the Arctic Circle that will bring heavy snowfall, rain and storms, reports national weather forecaster Il Meteo.

The village of Grotte di Castro in the province of Viterbo, two hours’ drive north of Rome, mountainous parts of Sardinia, and much of the province of Campobasso in the central-eastern region of Molise were already blanketed in snow on Monday morning.

The department is responsible for predicting, preventing and managing emergency events across the country, and uses a green, yellow, orange and red graded colour coding system for weather safety reports.

An orange alert signifies a heavy rainfall, landslide and flood risk, while a yellow alert warns of localised heavy and potentially dangerous rainfall.

The current meteorological conditions mean that snow is expected to reach unusually low altitudes of around 450-500 metres, with flakes already falling thickly on parts of the southern-central Apennines mountain range at 500-700 metres altitude.

The hills of Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Basilicata are likely to see heavy snow around the 500m mark, while areas at an altitude of 1000m or higher will see between 50-60 cm of fresh snow.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall. Photo: Vincenzo PINTO /AFP

In areas where the snow is unlikely to reach, heavy rains and thunderstorms are anticipated, with rain forecast throughout Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Lazio, reports Il Meteo.

Strong winds are forecast over the whole country, with the island regions of Sicily and Sardinia facing windspeeds of over 100km/hour and the risk of storm surges, according to the national newspaper La Repubblica.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: The Italian cities worst affected by flooding and heatwaves

The north of the country, meanwhile, will see sun but low temperatures of below 0°C at night in many areas, including across much of the Po Valley.

While conditions are expected to stabilise on Tuesday, cold currents from Northern Europe are forecast to trigger another wave of bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with Sardinia and Italy’s western coastline again at risk of storms and heavy rainfall that will move up towards Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto in the north.

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