Regional and local level implementation
In Denmark, the country’s five regional authorities are represented by Danish Regions while Local Government Denmark (KL) represents the 98 municipalities. KL supports Danish municipalities in their work with the SDGs by communicating the municipalities’ concerns and needs back to the national level. KL also participates in partnerships to strengthen focus on the SDGs across Danish society, including collecting, sharing knowledge and best practices between municipalities, encouraging the use of the SDG indicators, conducting surveys and supporting SDG research, and facilitating conferences via physical and digital platforms. An example of this engagement was a webinar held in the spring of 2022.
As reported in the chapter written by the regions and municipalities in the 2021 VNR, approximately 9 out of 10 Danish municipalities are actively working with the SDGs in their strategies and plans or have appointed political committees to specifically address Agenda 2030. This reflects a notable increase in local action and commitment since 2018. The municipality of
Gladsaxe has additionally submitted a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) in 2021. Most municipalities prioritise the sustainability targets related to climate action, sustainable cities and communities, and positive health and well-being. These are areas where innovative and concrete Danish solutions could also inspire other (Nordic) countries’ work with the SDGs.
Today, the regions primarily work within the national framework of the Danish health system, striving to fulfil many of the targets related to SDG 3. When it comes to climate action, the regions have set themselves an ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions from hospital operations by 75% by 2030, which is higher than the national target of 70%. In recent years, SDG implementation has been on a voluntary basis in each region, building on existing sustainability efforts. All five regions retain a broad focus on enhancing sustainable development through their ongoing operations and tasks. Some regions formulate explicit and targeted SDG action plans, while others have chosen to integrate the SDGs into existing development strategies. Overall, the SDGs are taken into account in all decision-making and procurement strategies, despite the challenges of balancing political and economic goals.
Engagement of civil society and stakeholders
The SDGs have proven to be a solid framework for dialogue, encouraging individual citizens, companies, civil society, and public agencies to join forces in integrating the global goals in core strategies so that these meet the ambitions shared by local communities. Indeed, partnerships and broad societal commitment are vital to achieving the SDGs, and most Danish municipalities have formed partnerships with companies and civil society organisations in local and regional partnerships.
Annual Spotlight reports compiled by civil society networks address Denmark’s challenges in achieving the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. The most recent Spotlight report was published in June 2021 by the two NGO networks, Global Focus and the 92 group, which co-ordinate Danish civil society’s SDG initiatives. The report summarised the member organisations’ political recommendations to ensure sustainable development both in Denmark and globally. Civil society’s assessment was that not enough progress had been made since 2017. Although much has been achieved in the areas of health and gender equality, Denmark has experienced stagnation in several other areas, in line with broader global trends. The country’s official SDG website,
Verdensmål, sheds light on relevant SDG campaigns, publishes news and raises awareness of Agenda 2030. It also accounts for activities in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Additionally, there is an advisory body established in 2017 called the 2030 Panel. This was set up by the Danish Parliament’s Cross-party Coalition for the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2030 Panel consists of 25 diverse stakeholders designated by the 2030 Network as representatives of key changemakers in Danish society. Global Focus and the 92 group are part of the 2030 Panel. The aim of it is to support the political work of the 2030 Network by contributing analyses, sparring, discussions, knowledge sharing. The 2030 Panel’s activities included the project
Our Goals, working with Statistics Denmark, which through an inclusive process reviewed
Denmark’s baseline position and suggested possible indicators for subsequent work on the 2030 Agenda.
Follow-up mechanisms, reporting, and international comparisons
Denmark’s national progress on the 2030 Agenda implementation is monitored through a set of national indicators that were developed in 2018 by the national statistics agency, Statistics Denmark. An annual statistical report is published whereby the 2021 version supplemented the 2021 VNR as an appendix. According to the assessment of the government’s SDG efforts, Denmark is well-positioned to realise many aims and objectives, especially in terms of health and well-being, education, sustainable energy, peace, justice, and strong institutions. The key remaining challenges relate to responsible consumption and production as well as climate action, and further attention is also needed to improve conditions for marine life and the environment.
In 2022, Denmark ranked second in the global Sustainable Development Report. In this assessment, the country is on track to achieving eight SDGs (see Figure 1), but challenges still remain for nine other goals, with significant or major challenges for four goals, including SDG 12 related to responsible consumption and production as well as SDG 13 on climate action.