Denmark is at the forefront in several fields. We are among those that integrate the most renewable energy in our power generation, and we made headlines worldwide when Danish politicians set the ambitious target of reducing carbon emissions by 70 per cent by 2030.
But we are also among the most resource-consuming countries. Among all the countries in the world that the Global Footprint Network has ranked by resource consumption, Denmark is in 8th place. Only seven other countries in the world consume more of Earth’s resources per capita than we do.
It is hard to brag about our ranking in that top ten.
It is therefore becoming that Denmark also has some of the pioneers who are paving the way to a circular economy. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society.
Many of us need to change our behaviour if we are to achieve sustainable consumption of the Earth’s resources. As you can read in this issue of Dynamo, in addition to you and I as consumers, action is needed by the entire value chain ranging from producers of raw materials to suppliers of components, manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and waste management companies. And we can also follow up politically by nudging us all towards a more sustainable behaviour in this world.
Because it is quite obvious that we cannot continue in the same way. After all, we do not have three Earths at hand, do we?
