Imagine that you are a tourist, and you are visiting a new, exciting place on a tight budget. Luckily, the city in which you are traveling allows you to earn free museum visits, meals, kayak tours, and much more. All you have to do is pick up a certain amount of trash, take public transportation, or volunteer in an urban garden. This system might sound like an environmental fantasy, but in Copenhagen, Denmark, it is a reality.
Copenhagen has long been a world leader in sustainability. It was recently ranked third in the 2024 Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index and was voted most sustainable city by city dwellers in a TimeOut survey. Copenhagen has developed the CPH2025 Climate Plan, which outlines goals in energy consumption, energy production, transportation, and city administration initiatives. Furthermore, the city has become a destination for people engaging in ecotourism, offering cheap ways to experience the city in exchange for climate-friendly actions through a new program called CopenPay.
CopenPay was a pilot program that operated this past summer from July 15 through August 11—Copenhagen’s busy season, the perfect time to target tourists. There were 24 different attractions coupled with climate-friendly tasks, including free coffee if you arrived at a canal on bike or foot, a vegetarian lunch after working in a community garden, a free kayak rental if you picked up trash in the harbor, and a free meal after cleaning up a beach.
CopenPay and other environmental initiatives throughout the city are revolutionizing the way an urban environment attracts visitors, and its principles are being applied to the country of Denmark as a whole. However, do Copenhagen’s programs have a real impact on climate change and sustainability? And what effect has the city had on Denmark’s overall foreign policy and efforts to engage in climate diplomacy?
CopenPaying Less For More
Green tourism efforts such as CopenPay reflect the overall climate-forward culture of the capital. Many of the CopenPay initiatives are associated with cycling or walking, two dominant modes of transportation among Copenhagen residents. Thirty-seven percent of all trips to work and study are made on bikes, and Copenhageners own five times more bicycles than cars. Every major road in Copenhagen includes dedicated, protected bike lanes, which is another way the city encourages sustainability. Copenhagen’s main street, Strøget, was entirely pedestrianized in 1962, providing increased financial revenue for businesses. Overall, Copenhagen saw a 600 percent increase in pedestrian space from 1962 to 2005.
One of the most interesting CopenPay initiatives takes place at CopenHill, a heat and power plant that has been converted into a new recreational center. Visitors can ski down a synthetic turf slope situated on top of the waste-to-power facility, climb a rock wall, or enjoy a great view of the city from the rooftop cafe. Through CopenPay, tourists can get extra skiing time if they arrive using public transportation. Like all CopenPay initiatives, this CopenHill program is based entirely on accountability, and it combines two outside-of-the-box sustainability initiatives into one unique experience.
Framework or Fantasy?
CopenPay is one aspect of Copenhagen’s broad push towards sustainability, but are these programs making a real impact? For CopenPay, it is still too early to say whether the program was a success, but independent think tanks have praised the innovative, digital approach. Copenhagen announced that CopenPay would be extended in 2025, so the effects of the program should become more apparent next year. Denmark aims to be the world’s first country entirely independent of fossil fuels by 2050, and the framework established by Copenhagen’s local officials is indicative of a country-wide focus on eliminating domestic emissions.
Denmark passed an ambitious Climate Act in 2020, which was preceded by Copenhagen’s CPH2025 Climate Plan (drafted in 2012), one of the most aggressive plans set forth in the world. The goal of the CPH2025 Climate Plan is to make Copenhagen the world’s first carbon-neutral capital through multiple phases of implementation. More than 98 percent of buildings in the city are already connected to a centralized heating system, but city officials are still trying to reduce energy consumption within municipal buildings by 40 percent and supply the entire city with carbon-neutral electricity and heat. Additionally, Copenhagen is currently developing a new CPH2035 Climate Plan.
While these impressive plans may not easily transfer to other places around the world, other innovations in Copenhagen can be implemented elsewhere. The Danish Council on Climate Change’s (DCCC) report on Denmark’s global climate action outlines the country’s opportunity to reduce global emissions by exporting green technology.
Technological development has been key to Copenhagen’s climate-forward efforts. The city has designed and installed an innovative energy surveillance system, allowing hour-by-hour monitoring of energy consumption in municipal and private buildings. Copenhagen city officials utilize this system to ensure adherence to CPH2025 goals; similar energy monitoring initiatives can be used in other countries to cut back on the wasting of energy.
Furthermore, researchers in Copenhagen—through a partnership with city officials and Google on a program called “Project Air View”—have developed new precise air quality sensors. This initiative involved a Google Street View car that was equipped with air quality sensors to collect data on pollutants. From November 2018 to February 2020, measurements were taken at street level to map pollution on an unprecedented scale, allowing for detailed measurements to pinpoint local sources of pollution. The sensor was created in Copenhagen, and it has enabled the city to identify the need for new regulations and develop additional technologies to measure and improve air quality. The export of these green technologies—which stem from innovation in the capital city—is at the core of the DCCC’s recommendations for Denmark.
In addition to concrete green technologies, Denmark has exported ideas for eco-friendly tourist projects. CopenPay has influenced other ecotourism programs around the world, evidencing its positive, wide-reaching impact. New initiatives modeled on CopenPay include a Florida Keys Eco-Experience Trail that gives tourists discounts at participating sustainable vendors; a Malama Hawaii program connecting visitors with local organizations engaging in sustainable volunteer efforts; an Ol’au Palau program that directs tourists to sustainably-minded businesses and, in exchange, offers unique experiences usually closed off to tourists; and the Red Bag Program in Squamish, Canada, in which hikers are handed a red bag to fill with trash and are then rewarded with free coffee and food. Perhaps, more aspects of Copenhagen’s ambitious climate initiatives will take hold worldwide.
Danish Climate Diplomacy
Copenhagen’s leading role in environmental action is part of a growing trend in Denmark: the country leverages its unique position on climate issues as a new form of diplomacy. Denmark has placed itself at the forefront of realizing the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. In keeping with that mission, it has put green diplomacy at the center of its foreign policy. Danish government doctrine states that it will push states and non-state actors to commit to aggressive climate goals, offering its programs as inspiration for others. The thinking behind this global approach is that the country should reduce emissions both domestically and abroad.
Why has Danish foreign policy prioritized climate diplomacy? While its green initiatives are undoubtedly rooted in virtuous ideals of sustainability and environmental protection, the Danish government has realized it has a significant opportunity to increase the country’s profile on the world stage. For a country with approximately the same population as the state of Colorado, it can be difficult to assert power in global affairs. However, with Denmark’s dedication to combating climate change and unique research and development capabilities, that could change.
Denmark’s emissions account for just 0.1 percent of total global emissions, yet the country is setting climate targets that have then been adopted elsewhere. For example, the Danish approach of incorporating international transport emissions into national reduction goals has been copied by the United Kingdom and France. The Danes are working with the world’s largest economies on the green energy transition and encouraging a redirection of financial flows towards more sustainable initiatives.
In a sign of increasing Danish soft power in the realm of climate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established 18 Green Frontline Missions throughout the world. These institutions are Danish embassies and missions solely focused on promoting green diplomatic efforts in countries deemed crucial to successfully tackling climate change. In fact, the Danish Ministry of Foreign affairs only listed two priorities for diplomatic work: helping people living under hard conditions and fighting to stop climate change.
Besides establishing physical climate outposts, the Danish government also plans to set the gold standard for climate finance and investment in developing countries. Denmark has committed to giving out more than US$500 million in climate grants annually from 2023 onwards, and it has mobilized the private sector to increase climate financing in developing countries to a total sum of US$1 billion annually. As a function of GDP, this total amount is the equivalent of the United States giving out US$71 billion in grants. These financing initiatives show Denmark’s commitment to exerting global influence in the climate sphere.
CopenTakeaways
Copenhagen’s CopenPay initiative exemplifies a city—and national—level commitment to sustainability seen in few other areas of the world. CopenPay has also had a global impact—it has inspired similar ecotourism programs across the globe and served as a link to Copenhagen’s other climate technology development programs, such as the CPH2025 plan and local pollution monitoring.
Denmark is a paragon of creative climate thinking. The country has leveraged its environmental leadership to establish itself as a serious soft power force in global affairs, forming strategic partnerships, investments, and climate change missions. Environmental fantasy is a fact of life in the capital. You can swim in Copenhagen’s harbor for at least 350 days out of the year, take advantage of 340 miles of bike paths, or pick up some trash as you ski down a waste treatment plant. Copenhagen’s success offers a robust framework for environmental action and ecotourism that other cities and nations can adopt to combat climate change globally.