Orsolya Albert
February 4th, 2021

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Biden’s been singing from the Danish hymn sheet (photo: Gage Skidmore)

Joe Biden’s new climate policy is a golden opportunity for Denmark, if the US president succeeds in getting the necessary funds from Congress, according to Dansk Industri.

“Denmark has worked for many years on the solutions that the United States is now looking at,” commented Louis Funder, the head of Danish Industri in the USA to TV2.

However, Funder emphasised that there are some obstacles in the way. The US is a diverse country, and Biden still has to convince Congress to allocate the necessary funds to finance his ambitious climate plan.

Some experts say he has thrown himself into a political fight, and that it may take years before anything passes the floors of Congress.

Climate plan for the future
The plan includes a complete pause on leasing American land and water for the extraction of oil and gas, as well as replacing government vehicles with electric alternatives.

Wind power accounts for around 8 percent of the the country’s energy needs, and Biden wants to double this share by 2030 and make the US fossil-free by 2050.

All these goals are outlined in Denmark’s fight to curb the irreversible effects of climate change.

Aside from the financing issues, however, Denmark is aware that Biden’s policies will ultimately be in his country’s interest. The president has already stated he is planning not to remove jobs from the USA as a result of the new policies.

In all, the climate plan is good news for Danish companies within wind energy, electrical car production and construction.

Novo Nordisk had a good 2020
Pharma giant Novo Nordisk saw its profits rise by 127 billion kroner in 2020 – a 8 percent rise. However, it notes that growth has been negatively impacted by corona. Novo Nordisk is the world’s largest manufacturer of treatments for diabetes.

Novozymes experiences small dip in revenue
Enzymes producer Novozymes experienced flat organic growth in 2020. Revenue fell by 3 percent from 14.4 to 14.0 billion kroner. The board, however, remains hopeful that this year will bring 2-6 percent growth.

Package boom helps PostNord to a record year
As expected, revenues at PostNord grew in 2020 – mostly due to substantially more purchases online. The company earned just under 1.3 billion kroner – up from 200 million kroner in 2019, which was its first profit in decades. The postal company further attributes its success to its high level of productivity and the increased demand for its services during the corona lockdowns.

Fewer cars, more trucks
There were significantly fewer passenger cars, yet more trucks on Central Jutland’s motorways in 2020. As there were periods throughout the year where people were encouraged to stay home, 7.2 percent fewer citizens took to the road. On the other hand, truck traffic increased by 1 percent over the year.

Help package of 170 billion kroner on its way for Danish companies
The new help package to support Danish businesses through the lockdown will have a budget of 170 billion kroner. The package includes loans for taxes and deferrals to VAT. The package aims to ensure that no important jobs are lost and that companies can stay afloat. In related news, the government is planning to set up a VAT loan scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises. This means that companies currently looking forward to paying double VAT on March 1 will have access to a loan so that payment is deferred.

Danes opening webshops like never before
According to the tech giant team.blue, more Danes are opening webshops than ever before, thanks to the corona restrictions.  In 2020, they sold 20 percent more websites for private use than in 2019.

Danes jumping on the GameStop wagon
Many Danes have jumped on investing in GameStop amid the massive increase in share sales driven by Reddit. According to Nordnet, 5 percent of all recent trades in Denmark were in GameStop. Experts warn that even though the scheme is set to cause losses for big investors – it is believed that two acclaimed hedge funds Melvin and Citron have lost billions this year – small ones can be in trouble in the long run.