2. Denmark

2.1. Governance structure

National adaptation policy-landscape

Denmark is a country with low elevations and long coastlines, stretching approx. 8000 km along the Baltic and North Seas while spanning more than 400 islands and the Jutland peninsular. Historically, flooding, coastal erosion, and storm surges have been sources of significant damages and loss of lives within low-lying and coastal areas, and hence Denmark has a long record of building dikes and other protective measures towards these natural hazards. Following repeated occurrences in 2010 and 2011 that caused central parts of Copenhagen to be flooded and threatened critical infrastructure, there has also been a strong focus on cloudbursts and surface flooding, whereas recently also drought, heatwaves and wildfires have received increased attention in Denmark.

The first National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) was established by the Danish government in 2008. Until then, adaptation was almost entirely addressed at local levels or within vulnerable sectors. The NAS provided guidance on how the government, local authorities, and businesses should work together to achieve national policy goals for climate change adaptation (Danish government, 2008). The strategy outlined specific goals, measures, and responsibilities for actors in both the public and private sectors. The strategy recognized the need for cross-sectoral collaboration and emphasized the importance of public participation in developing and implementing adaptation measures. Primarily, this implies that (see also the section on responsibilities below and Figure 2.1):

The Danish government provides the framework for adaptation including technical support and advice to underpin the development of local adaptation plans and their implementation.
Municipalities are responsible for planning and directing their own adaptation to climate change.
Landowners, wastewater utilities, local stakeholders, and citizens are responsible for implementing adaptation at the local level. In practice, this sometimes also involves municipalities although the level of engagement differs between municipalities.

As a direct result of the NAS, the national adaptation portal “Klimatilpasning.dk” was established under the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. Also, a scientific coordination unit for research in climate change adaptation was established temporarily with participation from the leading universities and research environments within adaptation in Denmark.

In 2012, the NAS was supplemented by a National Action Plan (NAP) for a “climate-proof Denmark” (Danish government, 2012). The NAP is based on the philosophy that responsible climate policies must do more than just work towards limiting the adverse impacts of climate change in the long term. It should also ensure adaptation to a climate that is already changing, and that all parts of society should contribute. The NAP affirms that: “Climate change adaptation is first and foremost locally based – at the municipalities, authorities, companies or individuals”. Hence the role of the Danish government is to establish the regulatory framework for local climate change adaptation by adapting laws and regulations, ensuring coordination, and providing information. Main elements in this regard include the Planning Act, Floods Act, the Act on Water Courses, the Water Supply Act, and the Environmental Act. Following the NAP’s publication, the current government and the municipalities agreed that the latter would increase investments in adaptation, and that all municipalities would carry out a risk assessment and prepare municipal climate change adaptation plans, supported by a task force established by the Ministry of Environment (Government and Local Government Denmark, 2013). All 98 Danish municipalities had finished their plans in 2014. There were no formal requirements with respect to future revisions, and hence adaptation was not generally integrated into the municipal policy cycles.

The revised Planning Act of 2018 (Ministry of the Interior and Health of Denmark, 2020). is one of the most important documents for adaptation in Denmark (Interviews, Denmark). Under these revisions, municipalities became legally obliged to consider flooding and coastal erosion in their physical planning. Coastal erosion was not previously part of the municipal adaptation plans. As per the Planning Act it is compulsory to introduce mitigation or remedial measures if planned areas are found to be exposed to flooding or erosion. Over the following three years, the Danish Housing and Planning Authority have introduced and gradually updated official guidelines to ensure fulfilling these changes, i.e., guidelines on how to plan and adapt against flood and erosion risk in accordance with the Planning Act. This was done to accommodate the emergence of improved data, with the latest version introduced in 2022 (Danish Housing and Planning Authority, 2022).

The Climate Act of 2019 is the first overarching and legally binding document on climate change in Denmark. It sets a legally binding target for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to the 1990 levels and to become a net-zero society by 2050 (Danish Government, 2019). The net-zero target has been brought forward to 2045 by the government elected in 2022. So far, the revised net-zero target is only stated in the government platform, and it is not yet adopted in a legally binding form. The Climate Act establishes an independent Climate Council to provide expert advice and monitor progress towards these targets and requires the Danish government to develop regular climate action plans. Neither the Climate Act nor the Climate Council concerns adaptation.

The new Service Level Act of 2020, which went into effect in 2021, states that wastewater utilities are responsible for implementing the necessary adaptation measures to mitigate flood risks due to heavy rains, i.e., roof and surface water runoff (Serviceniveaubekendtgørelsen, 2020). Specifically, this Act aims to ensure that public and private utility companies only finance adaptation measures that are found to be economically viable to prevent “overinvestment”. Wastewater utilities can collaborate with any relevant partner to finance the most efficient climate change adaptation initiatives. Wastewater utilities are required to report their level of investment and service provided on a yearly basis. If a new service level is decided by the local authorities (i.e., municipal councils), it is legally binding including when local utilities replace existing facilities related to wastewater or establish new ones (Ministry of the Environment Denmark, 2022).

In 2020, work on a National Climate Adaptation Plan started within the current Danish government, with broad support in the Parliament. After the recent Parliamentary Election in 2022, the elected parties have agreed to continue the development of this plan and the task is written on the Government Platform (Danish government, 2022). The National Climate Adaptation Plan is currently being elaborated by cross-ministerial working groups and pends political treatment (Interviews, Denmark). It is presently unknown when it will be published. Meanwhile, adaptation in Denmark continues to take place at municipal and individual levels within the existing frameworks. There are currently no general laws or regulations dictating to what level landowners, municipalities or other stakeholders must adapt to a changing climate, which has resulted in various challenges with respect to implementation across, e.g., municipal, or other administrative boundaries.

Year	Item	Description
2008	National Adaptation Strategy (NAS)	First national strategy on climate change adaptation. Outlines how the government, local authorities, and businesses can work together to achieve the national goals for climate adaptation.
2012	National Action Plan (NAP)	First action plan on how to “climate proof” Denmark. Focused on flooding.
2016 and 2017	Flood Protection Act	Update of the Flood Protection Act from 2009/2010, based on the EU Floods Directive. The updated Act requires regular assessments and management of flood risks from streams and lakes. Partly overlaps adaptation in Denmark.
2018/2022	Revision of the Planning Act	The revised Planning Act requires municipalities to consider climate change when making decisions regarding land use and physical planning. Coastal erosion is now part of municipal adaptation plans.
2019	Climate Act	Denmark’s first “climate law”, which specifies the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 and the binding target of becoming a net-zero society by 2050.
2020	Service Level Act	The Service Level Act, which came into effect in 2021, obligates wastewater utilities to develop the necessary adaptation measures for mitigating the flood risks due to heavy rains, defined as roof and surface water runoff.
2022	Government Platform	The task of developing a National Climate Adaptation Plan is written into the new government platform after the General Election in 2022.

Table 2.1: Timeline for adaptation policy in Denmark

Division of responsibility

The responsibility for planning and implementing adaptation measures in Denmark is anchored locally. It is a guiding principle that municipalities are responsible for adaptation strategies and planning at the local level, where the impacts of climate hazards are felt the most, whereas landowners, and public and private stakeholders are generally responsible for the implementation. The system is highly decentralized, putting an emphasis on the role of the local communities, companies, stakeholders, and citizens in defining how and to what extent adaptation services are provided, while still being part of a larger framework. The government can override local decisions that conflict with national laws or policies.

The Danish government is principally responsible for policy objectives and for proving the overarching framework for adaptation. It has been pointed out that the current framework is highly fragmented, and that this can be a hindrance to effective adaptation (Interviews, Denmark). Thus, it is primarily the Planning and Service Level Acts that define legal responsibilities (“must do”) with respect to adaptation, whereas most other guiding documents and policies mainly provide recommendations (“can do”). This includes at least two key risk areas, where responsibilities are currently not well defined: rising groundwater levels and management of watercourses. While legislation regarding environmental protection of watercourses in Denmark has been firmly in place for many years (i.e., the Act on Watercourses), adaptation is currently not mentioned in the objectives. Nonetheless, in most cases the current legislation within this area seems to be sufficient and to support adaptation policies adequately (Interviews, Denmark).

In the following the responsibilities of the different key actors at national and sub-national levels in Denmark are summarized (see also Figure 2.1 below).

National

The Danish government (vis-a-vis the Danish Parliament) is responsible for developing and implementing the policies and legislation needed to advice planning and implementation of actions at the national, municipal, and individual level. In general, the different Ministerial boards are responsible for adaptation and adaptation-related initiatives within their own (sectoral) areas. There is no central coordinating government body, and the level of coordination between different government bodies varies from high to none (Interviews, Denmark). The Danish government provides limited funding for adaptation, mainly related to coastal protection, research and development, which is managed by different government agencies.

Under the Climate Act, the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) (which is anchored in the Ministry for Climate, Energy and Utilities) provides authoritative advice related to climate and climate change to the Danish government. At the same time, DMI is responsible for delivering data and knowledge to facilitate adaptation in Denmark, in particular targeting the municipal level. These tasks are embedded within the following activities funded by the Danish government:

The National Centre for Climate Research (NCKF) is hosted by DMI, who is currently also the main contributor.
The National Climate Atlas provides data and climate services targeting the municipal level. The Climate Atlas is developed and maintained by DMI and NCKF.
DMI’s Open Data platform includes weather, marine and climate data. This online platform will be fully operational from 2023.
DMI’s role as the National Focal Point to the IPCC.

As of 2023, the Danish government together with a broad selection of political parties has allocated almost 190 million DKK to DMI and collaborating national authorities for developing a novel early flood warning system. It is planned that the system will be extended in steps and be fully operational in 2026. From 1 January DMI became the national authority with respect to early flood warning.

The Environmental Protection Agency (under the auspice of the Ministry of Environment) supports adaptation to climate change by ensuring that adaptation is integrated into environmental legislation and guidelines. The Environmental Protection Agency also maintains the National Climate Adaptation Portal, “Klimatilpasning.dk”, which is the national knowledge hub for adaptation, and which provides access to wide range of climate services, information, and data products for municipalities. “Klimatilpasning.dk” is a cross-sectoral collaboration between different ministries, agencies, local governments, universities, research institutes, etc. Together with the Danish Environmental Portal, the Environmental Protection Agency have developed a digital planning and adaptation tool called KAMP aimed at mainstreaming the publicly available data on adaptation to ensure easy access for public planners.

The Danish Coastal Authority (under the auspice of the Ministry of Environment) provides technical support, models, tools, data, economic assessments, and advice to municipalities with respect to coastal adaptation. These include the planning tool Coastal Planner, which includes socio-economic evaluation (The Danish Coastal Authority, 2021). The Danish Coastal Authority is the national authority with respect to the implementation of adaptation along coastlines by the state and otherwise serves in an advisory role to the municipalities. As part of the legal obligations of the Flood Protection Act and the EU Floods Directive, the Danish Coastal Authority is responsible for screening and mapping flood and erosion risks and hazards on a national scale every sixth year. The Danish Coastal Authority manages a limited pool of funding for coastal protection projects (see box 2.2 further below).

Besides these main national authorities, several other government agencies provide specialized services related to adaptation including the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Danish Map and Data Supply (SDFI).

Figure 2.1. Organization of adaptation in Denmark

Sub-national

Municipalities, wastewater utilities, landowners and other local stakeholders are the most relevant actors for climate change adaptation at the sub-national level.

Denmark is divided into five administrative regions and 98 municipalities, each with its own elected councils and a very high degree of autonomy, as affirmed by the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform.

Like the municipalities, the five Regions of Denmark are governed by an elected (regional) council. They have no formal responsibilities with respect to adaptation, although in particular the two regions Region Midtjylland and Region Hovedstaden are engaging in various activities including EU-funded projects to support adaptation in the municipalities. The Regions’ formal responsibilities cover a few related areas, mainly regional environmental and nature development, and soil contamination.

Following the Planning Act, Danish municipalities have the legal responsibility to consider climate risks in their planning cycles, prepare adaptation plans, and for facilitating their implementation, including flood protection, land use planning, and infrastructure management. Municipalities also have the associated obligation of preparing risk management plans for mitigating the direct effects of natural weather and climate hazards. Municipalities decide (or delegate the task to the local wastewater utility) what service levels local wastewater utilities should satisfy in accordance with the Service Level Act. Since there are no formal requirements defining how often municipal adaptation plans should be revised, this decision is left to the individual municipalities. However, as part of the DK2020 program (see Box 2.1 below), virtually all municipal adaptation plans in Denmark are currently being updated. Municipalities are not in general responsible for financing the implementation of adaptation unless this is to protect public assets, this is the responsibility of wastewater utilities and private landowners.

Box 2.1. The “DK2020” initiative

“DK2020” is a Danish climate change mitigation and adaptation program initiated and coordinated by KL, Realdania, the Danish Green Think Tank CONCITO, the Danish Regions and C40 Cities. The program is funded with 17 million DKK from Realdania, and aims to provide support to Danish municipalities, which will dually raise the level of their local climate work including both mitigation and adaptation strategies to the highest international levels.

Through the program, municipalities receive guidance and advice to develop a climate action plan that meets the goals of the Paris Agreement. This includes planning towards net-zero emissions rates in 2050 and the development of adaptation strategies to make the municipalities resilient to climate events. DK2020 is anchored at the highest political level in the municipalities and is a bottom-up initiative.

In the project, the municipalities commit to the same international standards as used by some of the world's largest cities in the C40 network. It is the first time that C40's standard, "The Climate Action Planning Framework" (CAPF), is here being applied to small municipalities. The DK2020 program was initiated in 2019 with 20 Danish municipalities. Since then, first 44 and then 31 additional municipalities have joined the program in 2020 and 2021, which now includes 95 of the 98 municipalities in Denmark. The initial 20 municipalities from 2019 have all recently finalized their extended Climate Action Plans. As part of these action plans, a systematic monitoring, reporting and evaluation (MRE) system is introduced for the first time. Preliminary evaluations show that the current MRE indicators defined in the municipalities are clearly more targeted at monitoring the municipalities’ climate footprint than towards monitoring their progress on climate change adaptation. Moreover, DK2020 has shown that (Interviews, Denmark):

There is huge capacity at the local level for solving the challenges at hand that seems to affirm the decentralized structure of adaptation in Denmark.
There is a huge willingness to act (voluntarily) and to commit resources at the municipal level.
The overarching focus for the municipalities is climate change mitigation.

In April 2023, KL, Realdania and the five Danish Regions established a new “climate alliance”, whose purpose it is to support the implementation of the ambitious plans developed under the DK2020 program with the necessary resources and knowledge (DK2020, 2021).

Local Government Denmark (KL) is the association of the 98 Danish municipalities. KL supports municipal adaptation efforts in terms of facilitating knowledge sharing, capacity building, and as an interest organization. KL is also very active nationally.

The local wastewater utilities are responsible for managing stormwater originating from rain, including adaptation to climate change. This often involves close collaboration with the municipalities and stakeholders from the private sector. Adaptation projects initiated by the wastewater utilities – outside of upgrading their own infrastructure - can be financed through an increase in the general water tariffs paid by consumers, and potentially in collaboration with other parties. This arguably represents a democratic approach to adaptation (Interviews, Denmark). However, since such projects may be very costly, under the current legislation (e.g., Serviceniveaubekendtgørelsen, 2020), only adaptation projects that are socio-economically efficient may be financed by the wastewater utilities, i.e., out of considerations to consumers and society as a whole.

Landowners and other private stakeholders and citizens are responsible for adaptation to climate change on their own property. In many cases, this is voluntary, and landowners themselves determine the level of protection of the adaptation measures (if any). This includes adaptation towards all kinds of water-related hazards, e.g., coastal floods, surface flooding induced by runoff from heavy rains and watercourses, and rising groundwater levels. Groups of landowners may form communities to finance, build, and maintain adaptation measures such as dikes. This can be done in collaboration with the local municipality and the private sector. The costs of implementing adaptation measures are generally distributed between public and private stakeholders following a “principle of benefit”. Parties that have a higher benefit from the adaptation measures installed, are thus required to fund a relatively larger part than parties who have limited benefit of the adaptation(s). Benefits are documented in terms of risks reduced and in socio-economic terms, using a specific calculation method provided by the national authorities.

Policy themes

In 2012, the centrally convened Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation prepared an analysis called “Mapping climate change – barriers and opportunities for action” (Danish Nature Agency, 2012). The report presented a sectoral and cross-sectoral analysis of (physical) climate risks and vulnerabilities in Denmark. 14 sectors were analysed: construction and housing, coasts and ports, transport, water, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, tourism, nature, health, emergency preparedness, insurance, and spatial planning. For each sector, a very basic analysis was carried out, considering the most important impacts of climate change, the relevant division of responsibilities between the authorities and private citizens, possibilities for adaptation, initiatives planned and in progress, and barriers and opportunities for future action. The task force concluded that while the influence of climate change on different sectors will be both positive and negative, the most significant impacts will be related to flooding (elevated sea levels, storms, more frequent extreme rainfall).

Until now, the largest political focus with respect to adaptation has therefore been related to flood issues both in the coastal zone and inland. This is reflected, for instance, by changes to the 2009/2010 Flood Protection Acts in 2016 and 2017 (the former concerning coastal areas and the latter concerning inland streams and lakes). These changes set out requirements for flood risk assessments and management and established a national framework for flood prevention and protection (Ministry of the Environment Denmark, 2016, 2017b). Conversely, rising temperatures have generally been associated with positive impacts, e.g., more favourable growing conditions. This picture is changing after the North European drought and wildfires in 2018, which caused significant losses, for example in the agricultural sector. As a result, droughts are now also considered within the DK2020 program.

In terms of more general policy themes, the 2012 NAP identifies five areas, where future initiatives are needed, which continues to be focal points for adaptation in Denmark:

Improving the framework for climate change adaptation by changing and modernizing relevant legislation and regulations to ensure appropriate solutions, especially in municipal adaptation efforts.
Developing a common knowledge base and ongoing consultancy to understand the implications of climate change and how to adapt to it.
Strengthening collaboration and coordination among authorities, the business community, and individuals involved in climate change adaptation efforts.
Promoting green transition by developing and using innovative solutions, which can be a potential area for growth.
Supporting international climate change adaptation efforts, as climate change is a challenge for neighbouring countries, by reducing the effects of climate change and promoting an ambitious climate change adaptation in the EU that will support Danish adaptation efforts.

Risk assessments

Denmark does currently not have a systematic national climate change risk, exposure and vulnerability assessment across key natural hazards and sectors. Rather, risk assessments at the local to national levels are generally produced for specific purposes. At the local level, these are often related to assessments of the economic viability of certain adaptation investments.

Under the Flood Protection Act, the Danish Coastal Authority is mandated to carry out a detailed risk assessment regarding erosion and flooding for the entire Danish coastline, and to identify high-risk areas, followed by a mapping of the hazards associated with those areas with a focus on health, the environment, cultural heritage, and economic interests. This risk assessment must be revised every six years, following the same three-step procedure of screening, mapping, and planning. As a result of the initial cycle, national risk maps were published in 2021 (covering 10 areas that spanned 22 municipalities). A second updated risk mapping occurred between 2016–2018 as a cooperation between the Ministry of Environment and Food, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities and the Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Interior. 27 Danish municipalities spanning 14 areas were identified as being at high risk from coastal flooding. These 27 municipalities were subsequently required by law to develop flood risk management plans, which were completed in 2021. These plans were required to include the following themes: climate change adaptation, coastal protection, and emergency preparedness. The third updated risk mapping as required by the Flood Protection Act is currently ongoing.

The development of risk assessments is supported by various tools. In 2020, the Danish Coastal Authority launched the new nationwide coastal planning and risk assessment tool, Coastal Planner, which covers the entire Danish coastline. This tool maps coastal erosion and flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk. It also includes suggestions for strategies for risk management and specific initiatives for coastal protection that can be applied by municipalities. The DMI Climate Atlas similarly provides regularly updated information on current and future climate hazards to support local risk analyses at the municipal level. The Climate Atlas can be linked with the screening tool (“KAMP”) developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. This tool compares selected national data, calculations, and projections to provide a simple risk assessment.

The socio-economic consequences of climate change have rarely been analysed at the national level. In 2021, the Danish National Bank used a simple method to confirm that flood risk can potentially affect the exposure of a large share of banks and other credit institutions in Denmark. These currently account for values in the order of DKK 41 billion today and could increase to DKK 198 billion by the end of the century. On behalf of the Ministry of Environment, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) recently carried out a nationwide analysis of the socio-economic consequences of floods (Halsnæs et al., 2022). The report is a literature study that analyses the socio-economic costs of floods caused by storm surges, cloudbursts, water courses, and high groundwater levels, as well as the associated costs of adaptation for risk reduction. The study compares existing Danish research on flood mapping, socio-economic calculations, and climate scenarios and concludes that coastal flooding is likely to cause damages in the order of billions over this century. The study further found that while national estimates of climate adaptation costs are lacking, some municipalities have estimated these costs for limited areas. No comprehensive studies exist for flooding from cloudbursts, streams, and groundwater, and local studies indicate large additional costs to adapt to these hazards. Overall, the report found that floods and climate adaptation will incur significant socio-economic costs, while suggesting that further studies are needed to support socio-economically effective policies and implementation of adaptation (Ibid.).

Some cost-benefit analyses have been conducted in Denmark, for instance as part of assessing the economic feasibility of the 2012 cloudburst management plan, developed to prevent surface water flooding associated with heavy precipitation in the municipality. As part of the assessment of the plan, the city of Copenhagen assessed and compared the costs of two solutions: increasing the dimensions of the sewerage system and using green infrastructure. The analysis showed that both solutions would reduce the cost of damage by DKK 16 billion over the course of their lifetime (100 years), through both avoiding damage and generating income through taxes and employment. The green infrastructure was less costly to implement, however, resulting in a DKK 7 billion difference. Informed by the cost-benefit analysis, the city has now implemented a combination of the two solutions (European Environment Agency, 2023).

Systems for monitoring, reporting, and evaluation

Denmark does not have a formal system for monitoring, reporting, and evaluation (MRE) of planned or realized climate adaptation. Still, over the last decade, adaptation has been reported and evaluated to some degree, and been the subject of research.

In 2016, the Ministry of Environment together with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities and the Ministry of Business and Growth carried out a national evaluation of climate change adaptation in Denmark (Ministry of the Environment Denmark, 2017a). The assessment was based on desk research supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders, and focused on the following four criteria:

The ability of wastewater utilities to financially support municipal investments.
Guidelines outlining which activities can and cannot be financed through tariffs.
The implementation of municipal plans for climate adaptation.
The efficiency of socio-economic efforts, potential bottlenecks for the realization of projects, and the need for updating the climate change adaptation plans.

In the context of the flood risk management plans developed under the Flood Protection Act, the appointed municipalities are required to regularly report on the measures planned to reduce their flood risk as well as on additional measures implemented. These measures are categorized as: prevention, protection, preparedness, and preliminary work; they are reported by the municipalities as: completed, continuously, in progress, postponed or cancelled.

The DK2020 program has for the first time introduced a comprehensive procedure for mainstreaming the MRE of adaptation at the municipal level, based on the C40 Action Planning Framework (C40 Cities, 2020). This system uses continuous monitoring and status reporting on key performance indicators (KPI’s) of the municipalities. Here the extent and focus areas for the MRE vary between the different municipalities.

2.2. Policy instruments

Capacity building

As indicated above, the overarching emphasis has been to build capacity on adaptation within and through the Danish national authorities, in particular within the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. This has among other actions led to a significant strengthening of DMI and the Danish Coastal Authority, and to the development of the abovementioned tools and knowledge centres to support climate change adaptation in the municipalities, including the NCKF/National Centre for Climate Research (DMI), the Climate Atlas (DMI), Coastal Planner (Danish Coastal Authority), KAMP (Ministry of Environment), and the national climate adaptation portal, “Klimatilpasning.dk”. Similar developments have taken place within other national authorities albeit at smaller scales, including the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland/GEUS and the Danish Map and Data Supply/SDFE. That said, outside of the “classical” sectors, where adaptation is already a main priority, there is arguably still insufficient resources and expertise at the national level in other sectors (Interviews, Denmark).

There has also been a general strengthening of the adaptation area within the municipalities and among other stakeholders. However, while some (typically larger) municipalities have extended their expertise over the past decade, other municipalities are still very limited in both expertise and resources for adaptation. It has been pointed out that there is a gap between the ongoing development and dissemination of new advanced data and tools from the national authorities, e.g., DMI, and the local capacity for using these assets in Danish municipalities. Preliminary results from an evaluation of the ongoing DK2020 program suggest that this may have been enhanced by the fact that a lot of municipalities lost their focus and their expertise on adaptation after the completion of the municipal adaptation plans in 2013–2014. In addition, municipalities with already high capacities traditionally work closer with academic partners, who can help raise the quality of adaptation projects and plans (Interviews, Denmark). Finally, most Danish municipalities depend critically on services offered through consultants and engineering companies, which limit the transfer of knowledge and expertise.

In response, several “bottom-up” initiatives have emerged that aim particularly at supporting adaptation in the municipalities. Recent and ongoing initiatives include the DK2020 program (see Box 2.1 above); the National Network for Climate Adaptation (DNNK), which was founded in 2020 on the basis of existing Danish networks and initiatives related to adaptation; the project “Cities and Rising Sea Levels”; and other activities organized by, e.g., KL and the business association for water and wastewater utilities in Denmark, DANVA. For example, KL is currently managing a project that aims at improving knowledge-sharing, data utilization and implementation of common data management practices in climate adaptation across all Danish municipalities. This project runs until 2025 and will provide an overview of pertinent tools, data, and stakeholders in climate change adaptation (Local Government Denmark, 2023). Interestingly, many of the abovementioned initiatives have been made possible due to funding from Realdania, which is a private philanthropic association that has gained a key role in the funding landscape for climate change adaptation in Denmark (see box 2.2 below).

Through the research councils (e.g., the Independent Research Fund of Denmark, and the Innovation Fund Denmark), specific “green calls”, and different development and demonstration programs within the Ministries, the Danish government is funding research, knowledge, and method development as an instrument for supporting climate change adaptation. While the economic magnitude of these activities is marginal compared to investments related to climate change mitigation, several research projects have contributed actionable knowledge on adaptation. This includes an open-source tool called “SkadesØkonomi”, used for estimating the economic losses due to flooding across a number of sectors, which is endorsed by KL, and which has been taken up by a large number of Danish municipalities.

Incentive mechanisms

Climate change adaptation in Denmark is mainly incentivized by the legal responsibilities of the different actors outlined above (see section 2.1). As a result, there are large variations at both national and sub-national levels with respect to adaptation actions and investments, which can easily be explained by differences in political priorities and the availability of local resources including economic resources.

There is no overarching framework for funding climate change adaptation in Denmark. Rather the financing landscape for adaptation is fragmented and spread across several sources. It is often stated that current funding levels from the state are too limited, and that larger pools are needed to support those municipalities and other stakeholders, who are unable to cover their own needs (Interviews, Denmark). A national overview of adaptation investments however does not exist, although some municipalities disclose this information voluntarily on an annual basis. So far, most of the available sources of financing are related to coastal flooding, erosion, and cloudburst-induced flooding (see box 2.2 below).

There are few direct economic incentives related to climate change adaptation at the local level. Arguably, the primary incentive for landowners and other local stakeholders to engage and invest in adaptation is related to their perceived picture of climate risks and vulnerability (which may or may not be skewed) rather than estimates of the expected annual damage based on climate projections and socio-economic analysis (Interviews, Denmark). Also, according to our informants, many stakeholders are unaware of their own responsibilities as opposed to those of, e.g., the municipality or the national authorities. This naturally serves as a disincentive for adaptation. In this light, improved knowledge and capacity building among local stakeholders could be expected to serve as an effective incentive mechanism, although adaptation remains a poor investment case for a private landowner or local stakeholder. To incentivize adaptation, it has been proposed that municipalities could offer favourable loans to stakeholders to finance adaptation via a special financial institution available only to Danish regions and municipalities (“KommuneKredit”). Where co-financing of adaptation solutions by the municipalities is applicable, this also provides an important incentive for adaptation (Interviews, Denmark).

To facilitate investments by wastewater utilities, e.g., in adaptation under the Service Level Act (see box 2.2 below), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Interior has recently changed the Statutory Order on loans. As a result, municipalities’ loan guarantees towards investments by wastewater utilities have been extended from 25 to 40 years for new loans. The purpose of this change is to ensure a better agreement between the repayment of loans by wastewater utilities and the tariffs imposed on consumers. The action plan furthermore states that the Ministry of Transport will consider how climate change adaptation can be addressed in a revised version of the Public Roads Act. The current version of the act, which dates back to 2014, does not touch upon adaptation (Ministry of Transport, 2014).

Box 2.2. Examples of adaptation financing in Denmark

The Service Level Act (Serviceniveaubekendtgørelsen, 2020) defines water tariffs as the means to finance adaptation related to heavy rain. In this way, wastewater utilities can finance adaptation related to their own operations, or take part in joint projects, involving, e.g., municipalities and other stakeholders. To prevent over-investments, municipalities can decide to heighten wastewater utilities’ service levels in accordance with socio-economic viability, calculated using a method defined by the state. The method is a six-step procedure, involving hydrological modelling and flood mapping, risk, cost and damage quantification, and cost-benefit analysis of the suggested adaptation measures. Wastewater utilities can collaborate with any relevant partner to finance the most efficient climate change adaptation initiative but may not finance adaptation that is not economically viable.
A national funding instrument to support coastal protection has since 2020 been available to municipalities. The pool is managed by the Danish Coastal Authority and has been granted annually for three years. In 2023, 10 new projects along the Danish coastlines were granted a total of DKK 150 million for reducing the risks of flooding and erosion (Ministry of Finance Denmark, 2023). In 2022 the amount was DKK 90 million (Klimatilpasning.dk).
A renewal of an ongoing collaboration on coastal protection of the Danish West coast for the period 2020–2024 was agreed between 4 municipalities and the Danish state. In the period from 2020 to 2024 a total of approx. DKK 204 million per/yr. are invested in coastal protection shared between the four municipalities. This will primarily cover sand nourishment in larger or smaller quantities along the 110-km coastline.
Except for cases as the above, where the state and/or municipalities decide to invest in adaptation, property owners along the coast are principally responsible for protecting their own grounds. This is frequently done through joint collaborations (e.g., “dike guilds”), which may or may not be co-funded by the local municipality. This decision is up to the municipality, which according to the Coastal Protection Act has the right to push forward such projects (Denmark, interviewee 1). In terms of financing, a principle of “benefit-gain” is applied, implying that even landowners whose properties are located behind the coastline are required to co-finance the adaptation, according to their “gain”.
Within the last few decades, the large private philanthropic association Realdania has provided resources matching the current state funding for both planning and implementation of adaptation projects in Danish municipalities and supported capacity building.
Finally, a substantial number of Danish municipalities currently partner in EU-funded initiatives related to adaptation, including Interreg Programmes and actions related to the Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe Framework Programmes, and the EU Mission on Adaptation. Even so, it was pointed out that perhaps this potential is still not fully exploited (Interviews, Denmark).

The role of insurance as an incentive mechanism to support climate change adaptation in Denmark is currently non-existing. While it is possible that particularly exposed properties may eventually become uninsurable, or that they can only be insured against paying relatively high insurance premiums, this is so far not an issue. Further, due the state insurance instruments for natural catastrophes, which principally cover disastrous storms and storm surges, at the present Danish insurers have no incentive to offer differentiated premiums (Interviews, Denmark). It is entirely possible that potential changes on the global insurance and reinsurance markets due to the increasing number of extreme weather and climate events could trickle down to Danish insurance companies and their customers.

2.3. Best practices and main challenges

The current status on climate change adaptation in Denmark was evaluated as part of the “Adaptation preparedness scoreboard” in 2018. It was highlighted that although all Danish municipalities have developed local action plans for adaptation, current adaptations plans are uneven in terms of detail and coverage. Also, with respect to the practical implementation of these plans, the progress was found to be uneven. The EU evaluation emphasized the lack of a systematic monitoring or evaluation mechanism using relevant indicators for the NAS, NAP, or local adaptation plans (see above). Likewise, the evaluation noted that no systematic monitoring of results of sectoral policies was conducted or disseminated. Similar conclusions were found in a parallel evaluation, which also noted the significant disparity in the level of detail of individual municipal adaptation plans as well as in the scope of the themes included in the associated risk and vulnerability assessments (Krausing et al., 2017).

The current disparities can to some degree be ascribed to the fact that the current legal and regulatory framework for adaptation is highly fragmented, as described above, that adaptation has so far been low on the political agenda compared to mitigation actions, and to the absence of a National Climate Adaptation Plan. It is also evident that there is an urgent need for more holistic thinking from the national to the local level (Interviews, Denmark). Hence, a lot of the relevant legislation is currently defined within constrained silos, within different Ministries with different responsibilities, which makes it difficult to solve the challenges posed by different national and EU regulations. For example, the EU Floods Directive foresees a 6-yearly cycle, whereas the DK2020 program commits updates every four years. A similar situation is often found in municipalities with key competences and responsibilities being spread across different technical departments and subject to different planning cycles.

While the availability of relevant data and climate services has improved, there is arguably still a need for additional and improved tools, data sources and knowledge, in particular at the local level. There is also an urgent need for mainstreaming to raise the quality of the analyses underpinning adaptation decision-making and implementation, to avoid unrealistic goals or simplifications. This includes current tools for socio-economic assessments as such tools play a key role for adaptation decision-making and financing in Denmark, as well as considerations of what the “normal” risk levels are as opposed to risk changes due to climate change under different transformational and socio-economic scenarios. At the present, different sectors tend to develop their own risk analyses based on different data and assumptions, introducing uncertainty and a lack of consistency when considering adaptation from a holistic perspective. Part of the explanation could be that the use of increasingly complex data and tools delivered through, e.g., the DMI Climate Atlas or Klimatilpasning.dk are not just “plug-and-play”. To utilize them demands a lot of local capacity building and enhanced expertise amongst users in the municipalities (Andersen et al., 2021), and technical support that is currently not readily available.

Danish stakeholders often emphasize the challenge in the lack of adequate funding and financial support towards climate change adaptation, while a better overview of funding opportunities both on a national level, and within the EU is in high demand. While both the Planning and the Service Level Acts provide valuable frameworks for the planning and implementation of adaptation, they also have their deficiencies. One of our informants been pointed out that in the case of joint municipal projects, only one municipality is ultimately responsible and will bear the full financial burden. Likewise, neither of the current funding sources cover retreat and relocation, which could become a viable adaptation option with rising sea levels. Finally, public-private partnerships are highly encouraged. However, despite a high potential, the current level of public-private partnerships is still limited (Interviews, Denmark).

In a recent study by the University of Copenhagen (Andersen et al., 2021), the role of stakeholder engagement and cross-sectoral collaboration in climate change adaptation was investigated. The study highlights the critical importance of involving stakeholders and suggests that while a lot of Danish municipalities are already embracing a deep stakeholder involvement as part of adaptation projects, there is still room for improvement. It also suggests that social science perspectives need to be better integrated for a truly transformative adaptation to take place.

Implementing the EU’s Flood Directive has had a positive influence on raising awareness of climate change adaptation in Denmark. After the first two cycles, the Danish Coastal Authority finds that the municipalities designated as high-risk areas and thereby are obligated to prepare risk management plans, are now further ahead in their climate change adaptation compared to other municipalities. Hence, preparing the risk management plans encouraged the municipalities, within a statutory framework, to analyse hazards and risks in relation to flooding, set targets for risk reduction, prioritize efforts, identify responsibilities, and follow up on implementation. In this way, the municipalities become aware of the consequences of flooding and must deal with the dilemmas and challenges that adaptation entails.

The DK2020 program demonstrates many of the abovementioned points and challenges and will also suggest possible solutions and best practices. Importantly, the program so far seems largely to endorse the current structure in Denmark, where adaptation is primarily founded at the local level and in the municipalities. In turn, this highlights the importance of the National Climate Adaptation Plan for Denmark to realize an improved and more holistic framework, promote cross-sectoral thinking, and harmonize adaptation in the municipalities.