A key aim of Denmark’s development cooperation strategy is to protect nature and help countries build their resilience to climate change.
To achieve that goal, Denmark has partnered closely with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is one of the organization’s strongest financial supporters.
Danish environment minister Magnus Heunicke said there is a simple reason for that collaboration.
UNEP, he believes, is uniquely placed to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, which is imperiling lives around the world.
“We are facing an existential threat to humanity,” Heunicke said earlier this year at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. “That is why we need UNEP. We need someone to lay out the facts [and] get countries to work together.”
Denmark was one of 48 nations in 2023 to contribute its full share to UNEP’s Environment Fund, the organization’s main source of flexible funding and the bedrock of its work on the triple planetary crisis.
Despite being home to just 6 million people, Denmark is the sixth-largest benefactor of the fund, providing US$7.2 million last year. (The country made another US$7.7 million in earmarked contributions.) Denmark’s support for the Environment Fund has increased 50 per cent over the last few years.
The country’s collaboration with UNEP comes at a critical time for the Earth. This year is poised to be the warmest on record, the latest sign humanity is not doing enough to slow climate change. Meanwhile, a nature crisis is pushing one in eight species towards extinction while pollution is claiming millions of human lives each year.
“As the human race, we must completely change the way we look at the planet (and) face the fact that there is no alternative,” said Heunicke.
“It is possible to change course and to save the planet. But time is running out.”
Through its international assistance programmes, Denmark is committed to helping the world’s developing countries adapt to climate change, leverage renewable energy, safeguard nature, rein in plastic pollution and embrace more sustainable consumption habits, especially for textiles.
During a recent trip to Nairobi, Heunicke visited the Gikomba market, where sellers often repurpose used clothes from Europe. The problem: the supply of textiles is more than retailers can handle and many end up dumped in the street and clogging waterways.
“We really need to buy less clothes and stop this export to other parts of the world,” said Heunicke.
In recent years, Denmark has worked in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions, including the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, where it has helped communities manage water and bolster agricultural productivity.
The country is also a key supporter of financing vehicles, like the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility, which are helping communities cope with the extreme weather that is part and parcel of climate change.
That is part of a larger effort by Denmark to build a more secure and sustainable world free from poverty. In The World We Share, its official development cooperation strategy, the country committed to meeting the UN target of providing at least 0.7 per cent of its gross national income in development assistance while mobilizing private sector investments, which it called critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Heunicke said UNEP has been at the forefront of developing fact-based solutions to the triple planetary crisis and, just as importantly, translating them into political action by uniting countries. That process – known as environmental multilateralism – is especially important given the scale of the environmental emergency, he added.
“When you look at the three planetary crises, there’s not one that can be solved by just one country. We need to work together.”
A public review of Denmark’s partnership with UNEP noted the organization plays a “critical role” in linking the environment to the push for sustainable development and implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.
It also noted that UNEP’s funding model remains a challenge. Much of the organization’s capital comes from what are known as earmarked funds, which UNEP must devote to specific projects. That can make it challenging for UNEP to engage in the long-term, strategic work that is so vital for addressing the root causes of the triple planetary crisis.
That is why Denmark is ramping up support for the Environment Fund, which was established in 1973 in the months after UNEP’s founding. Today, the fund helps UNEP identify emerging environmental issues, translate science into environmental policy and keep the environment under review through flagship reports. It also supports UNEP’s efforts to raise awareness about the triple planetary crisis and build the capacity of governments to contend with environmental threats.
That is work, Heunicke said, that has never been more important.
“We’re at a critical point in time right now. We can’t afford any more delays. This year should be the year we change course.”
Denmark is one of UNEP’s funding partners, whose full-share contributions to UNEP’s Environment Fund enable agile, innovative global solutions for climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Learn how to support UNEP to invest in people and planet.
