How has Denmark influenced European policymaking in Environmental Policy - Research Paper Example

 Denmark is a strategic member of the European Union. Despite its small size, comprising just over 5 million people, Denmark has contributed immensely to the improvement of environmental issues in the entire Europe. In its foreign policies, Denmark strongly encourages the prudent uses of natural resources and hence promotes the preservation of the environment. In 2009, Denmark hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen under the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) to address the issues of global climatic change, and how this dire problem could be resolved (Denmark 2010). In similar manner, Denmark also gains a lot from several environmental policies and regulations designed and promoted by the European Union Commission as described below (European Commission 2010). 2 Denmark has been popularly regarded as an environmentally friendly society where people and Government pay serious attention to the principle of environmental protection. The Danish Government has many great environmental policies and practices that are effective and exported to other European countries for similar applications or implementations. Some of these environmentally friendly programs include but are not restricted to the following policies: (i) The Development of Industry-environment Policy:- Denmark shows the other European countries that it is possible to establish a commission that would oversee the relationship between governmental environmental agencies and the industry in a country with the hope to forming a cooperation between the two parties for the purpose of preserving the environment. What the Danish Government did in this case was to set up an investigation on how much pollution the industries caused in the country. After a thorough investigation, it was discovered that Danish industry was solely responsible for the hike in the rate of pollution. To combat this problem, the Danish Government established Pollution Ministry, which specifically makes recommendations for environmental laws, policies and regulations. This approach is effective in stemming the degradation of the environment in the sense that Danish industries are expected to give account 3 of their activities regularly to the agencies under this Ministry with the intention of solving the pollution problems completely (Wallace 26). This policy has been reportedly copied in other European nations where pollution had become a serious socio-economic problem. It is also Denmark’s hope that this policy will be adopted by almost all European Union countries so as to establish a well-rounded environmental policy that would help Europe Union to control the extent of pollution in the sub-region. Pollution has many far-reaching implications: some of them include causing health hazards, the destruction of farmland produce and making air unfit for breathing. (ii) Creation of Ecocities:- Denmark is one of the countries in the European Union that initiated the policy of establishing Ecocities where governmental laws and regulations about environmental protection are strictly implemented or practiced in order to study the impact of such policies over a period of time (Denmark 2010). What the administrators of Ecocities do is to make sure that the natural resources are consumed appropriately, energy usage should be moderate and the fossil-fuel sources of energy should be minimized. Water is the main natural resource that is expected to be used wisely in Ecocities. Also, there are programs that aim at creating avenues for people to go “green”, that is, adopting lifestyles that pay attention to the use 4 of energy-saving alternatives (Denmark 2010). Doing this, Denmark has encouraged other EU countries to take up the challenge of establishing similar Ecocities in their areas. Ecocities are projected to reduce the amount of pollution that is released into the atmosphere over a short or long period of time. Ecocities also encourage the emergence of “green products and services” that people would utilize in place of the pollution-causing products. In this way, new industries could be formed to replace the old, energy-consuming ones. (iii) Agri-environmental Policies in Denmark:-Denmark had taken a dramatic step to spearhead a policy that seems to promote environment by concentrating on how agricultural activities cause some pollution or environmental problem. For instance, pesticides, which are the main farm inputs in Denmark, are regarded to cause some environmental problems owing to its chemical, non-green nature. Hence, to help the country adopt green farming, a sizeable amount of tax is imposed on pesticides—this is called a pesticide tax. The Danish Government imposes this tax to discourage the use of chemical pesticides on the farms that would be used to produce foods and other produce for people’s consumption (OECD 262). This same practice has been copied by some European countries; apart from the fact that governments can raise an appreciable amount of taxes through this approach, it would also force local farmers to strongly consider using 5 green methods in their farming operations. This would help the environment to retain its natural composition and drastically reduce the quantity of pollution that is produced during farming. The good advantage of this system is that farmers would have to find an alternative to replace pesticides. This may lead to the creation of new green industries that would supply organic manure or other green farm inputs that farmers can use without altering the composition of the environment. Consequently, people in that environment can live in good health because the level of pollution in the air, water, and the surrounding have been reduced to the level that they may not cause serious danger to human and animal health. Denmark is exporting this idea to other European Union nations to help them preserve their environment from gradual deterioration. (iv) Environmental Protection Act:- Denmark puts in place the Environmental Protection Act that stipulates the necessity that every Danish citizen must work together to save or protect the environment. This entails that they desist from carrying out any activities that are likely going to put the environment or natural resources at danger. This may include avoiding materials or processes that could increase the amount of pollution in Denmark. The law also emphasizes the use of green technology that would guarantee less production of pollution in the country. Though, there are relevant environmental protection or preservation laws in other EU countries, Denmark’s environmental protection law is made effective through the 6 establishment of Pollution Ministry, which directly oversees the activities of industries through Environmental protection agencies (Rehbinder et al., 153). Under the strict guidance of the Pollution Ministry, Danish industries are called to give account of their activities in order to ascertain that they are observing the law that strongly forbids them from engaging in activities or operations that would increase pollution and damage the environment in a dangerous or harmful way. European Union Environmental Policies It is interesting to notice that Denmark has also in some ways benefited from the European Union Environmental Policies. Examples of the EU approaches adopted by Denmark are highlighted below: (a) Water and Air Pollution Legislation:- The European Union made a giant step some years to institute legislation that would address the issue of water and air pollution. This legislation aims at discouraging industries and the individuals from undertaking actions that could undermine the purity of water and air (Barnes and Barnes 1). This legislation aims to bring around some measure of consciousness towards keeping the EU members states clean and fit for people’s living. As a member state, Denmark also gains from this legislation, and it is encouraged to implement this legislation at the local level. Reducing water pollution, for instance, 7 will save aquatic and marine lives; while less air pollution means that people in Europe can breathe in fresh air and enjoy good health (European Commission 2010). (b) Waste management:- There are EU directives and regulations that mainly tackle the issue of waste management (Barnes and Barnes 1). This entails that EU member states should adopt some strategies for removing, processing and discarding of wastes from their surroundings. Implementing waste management procedures would help to ensure that industries and individuals are conscious of their activities to reduce waste production. If the EU member states implement their waste management strategies, they could save a lot of annually from the huge amount of money they spend on waste disposal. Denmark has already set up efficient waste management processes; however, harmonizing this with the EU methods of waste management would help the country achieve optimum performance of its waste control agencies. As expected, the Europe Union often encourages its members to work in collaboration in order to be able to tackle wastes decisively (European Commission 2010). (c) Chemical industry Control:- The European Union recognizes that chemical products and by-products from industries and households sources are the primary sources of air and water pollution all across the EU (European Commission 2010). Therefore, the European Commission has concentrated its efforts on monitoring the effects of chemical industry on the environment. Denmark, on its own, has implemented a measure to reduce the impact of chemical industry on its people. For example, Denmark has placed taxes on chemically manufactured pesticides with the intention of completely eradicating the use of chemical pesticides in the country. But since it is difficult for Denmark to unilateral place a ban on chemical products (because of EU warnings against trade embargos among member states), Denmark has found a way to discourage Danes from depending on chemical products—this is by levying a huge tax on chemical products that could cause large-scale pollution in the country (Barnes and Barnes 3). (d) Environmental Impact Assessment:- It is imperative that countries make assessment of their environmental conditions to detect how far pollution, from different sources, has impacted their environment. One of the important things about environmental impact assessment is that it can also reveal how effective the solutions to preserve the environment are working (Barnes and Barnes 4). The EU makes it a mandatory action for its member states to measure and report their environmental data so as to know which member states require more actions in stemming the impacts of pollution on its environment (European Commission 2010). Highly industrialized European countries tend to produce more pollution than those that are thinly industrialized. In order to keep a balance on the level of pollution in the entire European Block, EU members, include Denmark are required to make 9 periodical assessment of their environmental conditions and be transparent in disclosing their findings to other EU countries. (e) Protection of Human Life and Wildlife:- The European Commission strongly encourages collaboration among its members in order to fashion out the modality for protecting both human life and wildlife. Decreased pollution or other environmental problem in EU members signifies that people can breathe in healthy air or drink uncontaminated water for their survival. It is one of the important policies of EU that all its members follow the directives that gives pre-eminence to safety of wildlife and that of human being (Barnes and Barnes 3). It is interesting how human health is connected with the cleanliness of the environment; for people to live in good health, their environment must be healthy and free of most pollutants (European Commission 2010). Although Denmark has not relented in its efforts to guarantee that all its citizens have access to unpolluted air and water, but the EU directive further strengthen the resolve to protect human lives through the implementation of effective environmental policies. And this has been helping the EU to harness all its resources in making proactive policies that would eradicate climate change for good in Europe (European Commission 2010). (f) Development of Eco-technology:- Another area that EU is coordinating efforts among its members is the research and development of eco-technology (Barnes and Barnes 1). The purpose of this is to devise a technique whereby new inventions and 10 10 technologies would be developed to manufacture green products and services that would help EU members to control their pollution levels (European Commission 2010). Denmark has already embarked on similar projects to turn its cities to eco cities, where pollution is reduced to the barest minimum and industries and individuals are encouraged embrace the utilization of environmentally friendly lifestyles by saving energy and water consumption. This approach is so helpful in designing equipment and machineries that would be used at homes, offices and elsewhere, and which would not emit much pollution into the atmosphere or water. Conclusion Considering the facts outlined above, it is evident that Denmark has undertaken series of activities to rein in the problem of climate change due to environmental pollution and other practices that seem to degrade the natural order of things. Denmark has shown the European Union how to set up eco cities where huge consideration would be given to the environmental cleanliness and human safety. Also, Denmark has Environmental Protection Law and practices that tend to prevent any destruction of the environment (Jack 91). Likewise, the European Union has some procedures that have been publicized among its member states in order to keep the environment unspoiled for human and wildlife uses. As a matter of fact, the European Commission and Denmark have things in common that are aimed at reducing the impact of pollution on the environment. Both Denmark and the 11 European Commission have been exchanging these vital processes to keep environmental problems at bay (Golub 150; Schmidt 15; Knill and Lenschow 43). 12 References Barnes, Pamela and Barnes, Ian. Environmental Policy in the European Union. London: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999. Denmark Official Website. “Danish Policies”. April 26, 2010. http://www.denmark.dk/en/servicemenu/media-room/Danish+Policy (Last accessed April 26, 2010) European Commission. “Environment.” April 26, 2010. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/policy_en.htm (Last accessed April 26, 2010). Golub, Jonathan. New Instruments for Environmental Policy in the EU. London: Taylor and Francis, 2003. Jack, Brian. Agriculture and EU Environmental Law. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Knill, Christoph and Lenschow, Andrea. Implementing EU Environmental Policy: New Directions and Old Problems. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Evaluating Agr-environmetal Policies: design, practice and results. Paris: OECD Publishing. 13 Rehbinder, Eckard, Seccomb, Monica, and Weiler Joseph. Integration Through Law: Environmental Protection Policy. Berlin:Walter De Gruyter, 1985. Schmidt, Andreas. Europeanization of Environmental Policy in Lithuania. Munich: GRIN Verlag, 2007. Wallace, David. Environmental Policy and Industrial Innovation: Strategies in Europe, the USA, and Japan. Oxford; Earthscan, 1995. Read More