Summary
Denmark will convert 15% of its farmland into forests and natural habitats over the next 20 years to combat fertilizer runoff, which has caused severe oxygen depletion in Danish waters and marine life loss.
The $6.1 billion plan includes planting 1 billion trees and acquiring farmland, addressing emissions from agriculture, Denmark’s largest greenhouse gas source.
The initiative supports Denmark’s 2030 goal to cut emissions by 70% from 1990 levels and makes it the first country to impose a carbon tax on agriculture under its Green Tripartite agreement.
Have they specified the type of farmland being converted?
The land owners are expected to voluntary allocate the areas, allowing them to keep the land best suited for their production. However, due to biodiversity requirements, they can’t just choose only wetlands. So, nobody knows right now.
In 2023 the municipalities made the following map of potential areas. The green is existing classified forest. The yellow are potential areas.
I didn’t realize they had so few existing forrests.
It’s worth noting the deal also specifically increases taxes for animal agriculture above a certain size/emission threshold
For farmland type, they are specifying low-lying soils as primary targets. Low lying soil specifically because reforestation/rewilding can have higher impact
Another important thing to note is that a large amount of farmland is used for feedcrop production in general around the world. For instance, around 90% of Denmark’s cereal crop production goes to animal feed