It is an improvement that legal requirements are introduced for the use of the wood biomass used to produce heat and electricity in Denmark. But it’s not good enough at all.
This is the reaction from Maria Reumert Gjerding, president of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, to a new political agreement.
The agreement must create greater certainty that the biomass used in Denmark is as sustainable and climate-friendly as possible, according to a broad political majority.
– We completely agree with the intentions that there must be strict legal requirements if we are to burn wood in Denmark, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
– But it worries me that these legal requirements are very close to the certification schemes that we know, but which have not managed to protect nature or the climate.
She believes the certification schemes are “full of gaps”. For example, have fetched wood from South America, where local authorities have failed to live up to the schemes.
– We have seen that indigenous forests have been cleared, that indigenous peoples have been displaced from their land, and that monotonous plantations have been operated instead, which do not take into account biodiversity. And yet this wood has been certified, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
– So I’m very worried, even though this deal has landed.
With the agreement, there will be, among other things, legal requirements that the trees must be felled legally and that felled trees must be replanted.
Increased documentation must ensure that the requirements are complied with. And violations of the rules can be sanctioned, it reads, among other things, in the agreement.
– If the legal requirements are to beat, then you have to ensure that you only get the wood very locally, where you can actually control how it goes, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
But the real solution is to quickly phase out biomass in Denmark. Because no matter how environmentally friendly the biomass is, burning it will always emit CO2, she points out.
– It is ultimately a matter of phasing out biomass from the Danish energy system very quickly. That is what is needed if we are to deal with the climate crisis. We have the alternative technologies, so it’s about political will.
The agreement must create greater certainty that the biomass used in Denmark is as sustainable and climate-friendly as possible, according to a broad political majority.
– We completely agree with the intentions that there must be strict legal requirements if we are to burn wood in Denmark, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
– But it worries me that these legal requirements are very close to the certification schemes that we know, but which have not managed to protect nature or the climate.
She believes the certification schemes are “full of gaps”. For example, have fetched wood from South America, where local authorities have failed to live up to the schemes.
– We have seen that indigenous forests have been cleared, that indigenous peoples have been displaced from their land, and that monotonous plantations have been operated instead, which do not take into account biodiversity. And yet this wood has been certified, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
– So I’m very worried, even though this deal has landed.
With the agreement, there will be, among other things, legal requirements that the trees must be felled legally and that felled trees must be replanted.
Increased documentation must ensure that the requirements are complied with. And violations of the rules can be sanctioned, it reads, among other things, in the agreement.
– If the legal requirements are to be beaten, then you have to ensure that you only get the wood very locally, where you can actually control how it goes, says Maria Reumert Gjerding.
But the real solution is to quickly phase out biomass in Denmark. Because no matter how environmentally friendly the biomass is, it will always emit CO2 to burn it, she points out.
– It is ultimately a matter of phasing out biomass from the Danish energy system very quickly. That is what is needed if we are to deal with the climate crisis. We have the alternative technologies, so it’s about political will.
Source: The Nordic Page