The European Union can set common ambitions and rules for what and how we should solve the climate crisis, she said.
“Even if Denmark were 100% green and climate-friendly, we would still have a climate crisis, so the climate crisis must also be solved collectively,” Skov-Hansen said. “The climate crisis is a global problem and therefore needs to be solved collectively by all countries.”
Moreover, she added, the European Union has the ability to sanction countries that do not live up to international obligations. “This is important because without the ability to sanction, legislation is pretty meaningless,” she said.
Goldschmidt aims to represent young people on issues such as the environment as well as accessible transport across the European Union if elected.
“You have a lot of conversations in Denmark around the nexus between climate and environment and nature,” he said. “And I think it’s visibly clear in Denmark because we are such a heavily industrialized agricultural nation.”
Youth need to take charge.
Goldschmidt believes that young people feel betrayed, as they will be inheriting the country that has applauded itself for its environmental actions.
“But in reality, it’s much more one of the countries that are most hard hit by being a big emitter of climate gasses, by being heavily industrialized with no room for nature left and having an agricultural sector that is strangling—almost literally strangling—all life,” he said.
Almost half of Denmark’s land is used to grow food for livestock, according to the Danish Society for Nature Conservation. This means that agriculture is one of the top three sectors responsible for the country’s greenhouse gas emissions (along with transport and the energy sector), making up 22%.
And it’s the most intensively cultivated land in the EU.
By 2030, Denmark aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to 1990 levels. In a statement in April 2024, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard said that agriculture will likely account for almost half of Denmark’s emissions in 2030.
“Therefore, we must continue to have a carbon tax on agriculture to reach the 2030 target and fulfil the ambition of the agricultural agreement,” Aagaard said.
Solutions must be long term.
Frida Kristensen, an 18-year old living in Jutland, believes Europe should work towards long-term solutions, particularly around the environment and welfare.
“The EU has a lot to say when it comes to the climate, and although I’m really happy that something is being done, I think we could do more,” Kristensen said.
From Vejle, a coastal town in Jutland, she said that she’s seen firsthand how environmental and climate policies affect the areas we live in.
“A big event in Vejle these days is that life in Vejle Fjord is dead. This is partly due to the large amount of nitrogen discharged by agriculture,” Kristensen said. “Why isn’t something being done about it before it’s too late?”
She said that there are restrictions on nitrogen. “And yet we have ended up here,” she said. “It makes me uncomfortable about the future if this is how it is prioritized.”
Kristensen said it is not just the fjords that are being exposed to nitrogen.
“It’s also our groundwater that is affected,” she said. “I can see that it would hurt farmers’ production right now if there were more rules and restrictions, but I’m sure that no one would rather buy their water in bottles because they can’t drink what comes from the tap.”
Source link : https://news-decoder.com/wh-y-vote-in-denmark-youth-seek-european-solutions/
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Publish date : 2024-05-31 07:00:00
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