Ben Hamilton
March 28th, 2022

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That’s your lot, Denmark (photo: Pixabay)

As of today, Denmark has used its supply of naturally-produced resources for 2022, according to think-tank Global Footprint Network, which divides the world’s total output by its population to work out which countries are overconsuming. 

Denmark is the 15th country so far this year to reach the point of overconsumption, and it is not even April! Last year, it reached the mark on March 26, but in 14th place. 

The 14 countries that placed ahead of Denmark were: Qatar (on February 10!), Luxembourg, the Cook Islands, Bahrain, Canada, the UAE, the USA, Estonia, Belize, Kuwait, Trinidad & Tobago, Mongolia, Australia and Belgium. Finland will place 16th on March 31.

Nature body: It’s deeply paradoxical
Danmarks Naturfredningsforening president Maria Reumert Gjerding isn’t impressed.

“It’s paradoxical. We usually talk about ourselves as a green pioneer country, but we are one of the most resource-intensive countries in the whole world,” she told Kristeligt Dagblad. 

“It illustrates very well why we have a climate and biodiversity crisis. We live too much beyond capacity with our marked over-consumption.”

Global Footprint Network: Address your waste production!
According to Global Footprint Network, four Earths would be needed if every country over-consumed like Denmark.

It charges Denmark with reducing its waste production (of 845 kilos per person per year), which is the highest in the EU. 

It suggests Denmark should follow the lead of The Netherlands, which has set a target of reducing it to nil by 2050. 

2022 promising to be a breakthrough year for waste-sorting
Around 3.7 million people in Denmark will be sorting their waste into nine categories by the end of this year – nearly two-thirds of the 5.8 million population. The Environment Ministry hailed the improvement, which will see the number of municipalities with the necessary infrastructure rise from 12 to 62 of the country’s 98, as an important step on the way to achieving the 2030 target of reducing annual CO2 emissions by 700,000 tonnes. By the end of the year, it is expected that 93 of the municipalities will be able to operate suitable rubbish collection trucks. The 12 ontrack municipalities are Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Hedensted, Herlev, Herning, Nyborg, Næstved, Randers, Solrød, Albertslund, Høje-Taastrup and Sønderborg.

MPs debating composition of second compensation package for families hit by heating costs
Pressure is growing on the government to dig into the coffers for yet another compensatory package for families struggling with rising heating costs. It is particularly users of gas where there is no alternative fuel source who have been struggling, and with the government intent on curtailing the country’s dependence on Russian gas, prices look set to remain high for some time yet. In February, it was agreed around 320,000 households with an annual income of below 550,000 kroner would share a compensation package of 1 billion kroner this summer. MPs are debating the size of the next package. While SF and Enhedslisten want to give away 1.5 billion, Radikale would prefer the funds are mostly spent on phasing out gas and oil usage – in the first package, 250 million was earmarked for phasing out gas stoves. Venstre, meanwhile, favours a 2.7 billion kroner package.

Tagged-up Støjberg has started serving her sentence
Inger Støjberg will not go to prison to serve the two-month sentence handed to her by the Supreme Court on December 13, which commenced recently after quite some delay. Instead she is wearing an electronic tag around the ankle. To qualify for tagging, she needed a job employing her for more than 20 hours a week, and her Ekstra Bladet column and hosting of a dk4 radio program have taken her over the necessary requirement. The former Venstre minister, who turned down an invitation to join Dansk Folkeparti recently, wrote in her newsletter: “I intend to use the time in the best way, so I will – in addition to taking care of my work – spend the time developing policy and planning the future. There’s a lot waiting on the other side of all this. I can promise it will be exciting.

Huge increase in numbers joining the territorial army
More Danes have been joining the territorial army in recent months – during the build-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and since the war started. Applications to the Danish Home Guard (HJV) have increased four-fold since the invasion to the extent that today there are around 13,000 active volunteers and 31,000 in the reserve forces. Meanwhile, BT reports that Danes have been busy hoarding non-perishable food items, first aid kits and other supplies in keeping with the possibility of Denmark being invaded. 

Two supermarkets raise general price by as much as 5 percent
Two Salling Group supermarket chains, Føtex and Bilka, have noticeably raised prices today on thousands of goods. Another of the Salling chains, Netto, has not raised prices, however. The increase at Føtex and Bilka, typically between 2 and 5 percent, is a result of growing inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine and other factors. Supermarket prices, for example at the chains owned by Salling’s main rival Coop, have been quietly increasing all year, but this was the first noticeable one-day hike, according to online monitoring company Beepr. 

Plug-in owners quite dependable chargers, reveals study
An autumn 2021 study involving over 36,000 motorists carried out by Danmarks Statistik on behalf of the Tax Ministry reveals that the owners of plug-in hybrid cars tend to be diligent chargers and only use petrol when they are caught short. However, this happens regularly, and overall plug-in hybrid cars run on electricity around half the time.

Iraqis, Iranians and Bosnians the most likely to acquire citizenship
People from Iraq, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina who resettled in Denmark are the nationalities most likely to acquire Danish citizenship, according to Danmarks Statistik. Between 50 and 64 percent have a Danish passport. On the whole, the longer immigrants have lived in Denmark, the more likely it is that they have acquired a passport. Some 38 percent of Turkish immigrants, whose movement to Denmark in high numbers in the 1970s is considered the first major wave of non-EU arrivals, have a passport, ranking them the fourth most likely.

A third of all immigrants have a Nordic passport
Of the 640,922 people living in Denmark on 1 January 2022 who are classified as immigrants, or descendants of immigrants, around a third (197,100) have Nordic citizenship, according to Danmarks Statistik. A further 166,600 have a residence permit as part of their asylum or family reunification, 158,400 immigrants have a residence permit to work and 47,500 are in the country to study. Of the Nordic citizens, 71 percent immigrated to Denmark with a passport that was not Danish.

Majority of violent crime sentences are under six months
Most custodial sentences handed out to perpetrators of violent crime against private individuals were for periods under six months: 73 percent of the 1,433 guilty verdicts in 2021. In total, 11,337 violent crime cases made it to court, resulting in 6,462 guilty verdicts – a 12 percent fall from 2020. Of these, 3,443 cases were violence against private individuals, and 58 percent escaped prison. The older the defendant, the more likely they are to be found not guilty.