Denmark has immediately called for a cease of a new oil and gas exploration program in the Danish North Sea as part of a plan to end the usage and dependence on fossil fuels by the year of 2050.
A Milestone Deal
On Thursday night the Danish government voted in favor of shutting down plans for the next round of the country’s oil and gas licenses, 80 years after it began exploring its hydrocarbon resources.
The existing 55 Danish oil and gas platforms, spread across 20 oil and gas fields, will be allowed to continue extracting fossil fuels but a landmark decision to end the hunt for new warehouses on the aging board will ensure the end of Danish fuel production.
“We are now nearing the end of the fossil record,” said Danish Minister of Meteorology Dan Jørgensen.
Impact On Other Nations
Helene Hagel of Greenpeace in Denmark described the parliamentary vote as “a moment of fullness” or ‘a watershed moment’ that would allow the country to “prove itself to be a green supporter and encourage other countries to end their dependence on fossil fuels as well”.
She said: “This is a great victory for the heavenly organization and for all the people who have been pushing for years to come.”
Denmark produced about 103,000 barrels of oil and gas per day in 2019, compared to the UK, which produced 1.7m barrels of oil equivalent to last year and Norway, producing 1.8 million barrels per day.
Its decision to set a long-term deadline for oil and gas production is likely to pressure UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to follow as the country prepares to lead efforts to tackle the climate crisis at UN talks in Glasgow next year.
The Reactions
“This is what it means and it look like to take hold of a nationa’s climate leadership,” said Mel Evans, a major climate campaign in Greenpeace UK. “All eyes will be on the UK next year as we hold important talks on the weather, so our Premier must take that into account. If Johnson wants to continue building a global clean-up for energy transformation, he must cancel the next round of oil and gas licensing, complete all future exploration and file a formal extraction requirement as far as possible in the North Sea. ”
The IPPR thinktank called on the UK and Scottish governments earlier this week to end oil and gas production by a series of five-year reductions, and end a controversial policy that North Sea companies emit as much oil and gas as can from the aging bowl.
Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil and Gas UK, told the Guardian that a tough deadline in oil and gas production – similar to a ban on the sale of new fossil fuel-powered vehicles from 2030 – could be a “dull tool” that could lead to “unintended consequences” of investment and thousands of jobs.
As a matter of fact, Denmark is the largest producer of oil and gas in the European Union, which does not include Norway and the U.K., both much larger producers. Denmark is estimated to produce 83,000 barrels of crude oil and another 21,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2020.
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