Photo Andy Arbeit/Unsplash. NordGen/Norden.org. Ian Taylor/Unsplash.
A green Nordic Region
The biggest challenges of our time include climate change, vulnerable ecosystems and declining biodiversity. It is crucial that we find good and effective solutions to future-proof a green and sustainable Nordic Region. We will achieve this by promoting new green technologies, local support for the green transition, the right financial incentives, sustainable construction and sustainable transformation of the agriculture and food sector. The Nordic Region must lead the way in an innovation-driven and competitive green transition.
Figure 2 shows the amount of renewable energy used in the Nordic countries and the EU as a share of total energy consumption. Conversion losses are not included, e.g., during electricity generation and in district heating. Åland has been omitted due to a lack of available data.
Source Nordregio and Nordic Statistics Database (ENER08) as well as The Faroese Environment Agency, regarding data from the Faroe Islands.
An economically sustainable green transition
The Nordic countries agree on the need for climate action and will work together to achieve the targets set by the Paris Agreement. We also agree that the green transition should be as cost-effective as possible. We want the most green transition for our money. As far as possible, it should be geographically balanced and help to promote the development of our societies throughout the Nordic Region. In changing times when global support for the green transition is fluctuating, the Nordic Region must lead the way and show the world that the transition is not only a necessary investment in the future of the planet and the coming generations, but also an economically sustainable investment that improves human health. We will illustrate the cost-effectiveness of the green transition throughout the Nordic Region by sharing knowledge, integrating climate considerations into macroeconomic models and working together on economic policies that stimulate transition. The transition of emission-intensive sectors offers clear synergies with efforts to improve air quality and make nature more resilient.
The Agreement on Implementing a Green Denmark makes Denmark the first country in the world to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture. The government has also earmarked billions of kroner for a major conversion of the nation’s landmass to make room for more forest and nature, which will reduce the climate impact and nitrogen emissions and be of great benefit to the aquatic environment. The agreement represents a tangible move to facilitate the green transition as part of a broad political agreement. Based on Danish experiences with this agreement, the Presidency will focus on Nordic co-operation that maximises the green transition while maintaining a sustainable social balance. One area in which the green transition cannot succeed without Nordic co-operation is green ferry routes between the Nordic countries, which the Nordic Ministerial Declaration of 2022 envisages will be running by 2030. Similarly, an agreement has been reached on a new course for Danish fishing, which sets the direction for a green transition of the sector, focusing on a better marine environment.
As they progress, the green transition and climate adaptation measures are changing our cities, landscapes, working life and leisure time. The Presidency will focus on ways of making the green transition beneficial to local communities and peripheral areas. It is crucial for the success of the transition that climate adaptation and investments in renewable energy, for example, also provide opportunities for local communities and are not just perceived as a negative burden imposed on them. The same applies to the greening of traditional and primary industries (fishing, agriculture and forestry).
The Presidency also wishes to focus on the green transition in the way we live and build. We will host a Nordic ministerial meeting on housing and construction in 2026 to focus on opportunities to promote the green, circular and digital transition of construction and housing.
New technology to speed up the green transition
If it is to be the most sustainable region in the world by 2030, the Nordic Region must pick up the pace of the green transition. A wide range of new and known technologies can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What is needed now are good and appropriate frameworks for the development of new green technologies, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Hydrogen
The Nordic countries have already made significant progress in their green transition and serve as an inspiration to the rest of the world in many ways. One of the next steps is to secure fuels for sectors and companies that are struggling to transition to a climate-neutral future. This is particularly relevant for the heavy and energy-intensive parts of industry as well as aviation and shipping, which are unsuitable for electrification. Green hydrogen or other power-to-x fuels can help phase out fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources.
Particularly in the transport sector, access to CO2 is expected to be of great importance. A balanced approach to utilising captured carbon is crucial. If we are to fulfil our green ambitions, companies must have access to hydrogen as they transition.
The production of hydrogen and power-to-x can also help make off-take in an energy system more flexible with a growing share of renewable energy and customisable production of green fuels to match the hour-by-hour availability of green power.
The market for green hydrogen and other PtX products is still developing, but demand is expected to grow dramatically across the whole of Europe, not just in the Nordic countries. In other words, the potential could be huge. The Presidency will focus in particular on promoting the conditions for green hydrogen and other power-to-x fuels in order to realise that potential.
CCS
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a vital tool for meeting global climate goals under the Paris Agreement, EU targets and the Nordic ambition of being the greenest region in the world by 2030. Specifically, CCS can help reduce CO2 emissions from waste facilities, combined heat and power (CHP) plants and heavy industry, among others. It is even possible to achieve negative emissions by capturing and storing CO2 from, for example, biogas plants and biogenic sources in the supply sector. In this way, CCS can also contribute to achieving the targets of climate neutrality and a 110% reduction in carbon emissions.
The Nordic Region has already made good progress in developing frameworks for CCS and has the opportunity to lead the way and promote a competitive green transition using this technology in the years to come. Sweden has some of the largest amounts of biogenic CO2 in Europe, and a broad political majority in Denmark wants to utilise the fact that the Danish underground has the capacity to store far more carbon than the country generates. The Nordic countries are working more and more closely together on CCS. Ørsted is commissioning the first full-scale CCS plant in Denmark, as part of which they will use a Norwegian CO2 storage facility (Northern Lights). The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2026.
At Denmark’s request, the Nordic Council of Ministers has initiated a three-year CSS programme that seeks to promote closer co-operation between the countries and facilitate a faster rollout of the whole value chain. Government subsidies to establish the value chain are relatively high in Denmark and Sweden. The Presidency intends to focus on cross-border CCS transport and infrastructure.
Sustainable and resilient food, agriculture and fisheries sectors
The Nordic Region must take the lead in ensuring the availability of healthy and sustainable food and the green transition of the Nordic agriculture and fisheries sectors. We will only achieve this if we integrate thinking about solutions and look at all parts of the transition. We have to bring everyone on board. The global situation has highlighted the need for robust food security, both nationally and in the Nordic Region. The agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture sectors can make a positive contribution to this.
Resilient Nordic food systems
The Nordic food, agriculture and forestry sectors are crucial to the security of supply. The Nordic Region has already made great strides towards more resilient food systems, most recently with the Karlstad Declaration on Preparedness and Robustness (2024). The Presidency will follow up on the discussions at the Council of Ministers meeting in Kuopio in June 2025 and launch initiatives to encourage more exchanges of experiences and co-operation between the Nordic countries to make the region more robust with greater resilience and preparedness in the food and agriculture sector.
NordGen is a crucial part of the infrastructure that preserves agriculture’s genetic resources, which form the foundation for research and breeding to meet the demand for food and feed and also to meet climate and environmental demands. The Presidency will seek to safeguard NordGen’s work.
Generational change
More young people are needed in the Nordic agriculture, food, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry – the whole of the MR-FJLS sector. The sectors face significant recruitment challenges, and the average age of workers in them is rising, partly due to the difficulty of competing with the wages and working conditions in other sectors.
In 2023, the Nordic Council of Ministers made an important decision to launch a vision project to give young people more of a role in the Nordic food systems and to make the sector more diverse. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ research centre, Nordregio, is responsible for this work.
The Presidency will follow up on the project, launch potential new initiatives, present the final vision and initiate core actions.
Sustainable food systems
It is important that the Nordic countries take the lead and work together on safe, healthy and sustainable diets, including plant-based and aquatic foods, as well as working together to reduce food waste throughout the Nordic Region. The focus will be on co-operation on sustainability and resilience in the Nordic food systems, including value generation and competitiveness in the sectors.
The Nordic Region is a proud culinary region. New Nordic Food and the New Nordic Food Manifesto have created a strong international brand over the past twenty years. The Presidency will seek to roll out New Nordic Food to everyday food in the region, and discuss the potential for the New Nordic Food movement to unite the region in moving towards more healthy, profitable and resilient food systems.
The Presidency will commission an analysis of ways in which marine raw materials and food can help improve public health and security of supply, as well as encourage a proximity and preparedness perspective. This will give the Nordic Region a competitive advantage and benefit the environment and climate.
Sustainable fisheries management
The seas are under pressure from various human activities. It is crucial that we are aware of how we affect the nature we use. The Nordic countries must promote fisheries that take better care of our marine environment and ensure sustainable fish stocks, and do so on the basis of an ecosystem-based approach that balances utilisation and protection of the sea.
There is a need for a holistic approach to managing the Nordic seas that addresses and supports opportunities and solutions, one that looks at how to manage and utilise marine areas in a way that guarantees sustainable fish stocks and is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. The Presidency will focus on the green transition of the fisheries sector and ecosystem-based fisheries management.
We need to reduce cumulative pressures on the marine environment by adopting a holistic approach to planning how we use marine areas, an approach that balances fisheries, aquaculture, nature and new marine infrastructure such as wind energy, including how it interacts with demersal species like cod.
The Presidency will host a Nordic conference in the Faroe Islands about the situation of demersal species, focusing on the composition of the stock and how fisheries, management, climate and ecosystems interact.
Fisheries management is part of the overall management of the marine environment and the structures and functions of ecosystems. The management of stocks fished in the Nordic Region should focus on ensuring sustainability using an ecosystem-based approach to make the utilisation of future resources economically and ecologically sustainable.
Marine ecosystem-based management and coexistence at sea
The Nordic Marine Programme aims to address the planetary triple crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – by the Nordic countries working more closely together on the sustainable development of the marine environment and coexistence between activities in it. The programme builds on a number of Nordic declarations, including ministerial statements on the sea, climate and biodiversity, and the prime ministers’ declaration on a sustainable marine economy and green transition. These declarations form the political foundation for coordinated and ambitious action in the region.
The programme also seeks to create strong links to the Kingdom of Denmark’s priorities in the Arctic during its chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Particular emphasis will be placed on area-specific conservation measures, developing tools for maritime spatial planning, and addressing environmental impacts such as underwater noise and marine litter in Arctic waters. Through an integrated approach to marine management, the programme aims to promote synergies between environmental protection, economic development and climate considerations, with a particular focus on vulnerable Arctic ecosystems.
The Presidency will host a major Nordic workshop in Copenhagen focusing on protected areas (MPA and OECM) and the link between the seas and the climate, including ocean acidification, marine heat waves, carbon sequestration and climate refugia.
The workshop will also focus on joint ecosystem-based management, including coexistence between marine environmental protection, fisheries and offshore wind, as well as on a mid-term status for the continuation of the vision projects Samskag and NorScen.
