November 2009

In two weeks, thousands of political leaders and environmental scientists will meet in Copenhagen for the climate change summit. We ask whether Denmark is the shining green example it seems to be.
The Danes boast that they are one of the greenest nations on earth. They're the world leader in wind technology, with a third of the wind turbine industry worth tens of billions of dollars. I think theyre beautiful, says Katrine, of the 5 and a half thousand offshore wind turbines she helped to engineer. We closed those nuclear reactors down, says Katrine, gesturing across the water to Sweden. The Danes proudly proclaim a tough anti-nuclear stance. Yet 8% of Denmarks energy is imported nuclear power. Thats not the only hypocrisy in Danish power politics. The other issue is the reliance on greenhouse gas emitting coal. We dont have much to brag about, says Tarjei of Greenpeace, two years ago we used more coal per capita than the Chinese. According to Tarjei, Denmarks national carbon targets will only be met by buying offshore credits. Denmarks minister for Climate and Energy is quick to disagree: For many years weve had a CO2 tax - even before Kyoto, she says. It's paid for with the highest taxes in the world. And with 37% of Danes cycling to work the intent is there even if Denmark is not quite perfect. Whether the rest of the world will adopt Denmark's policies remains to be seen, but the green arm-wrestling which will take place here in a few weeks, will surely affect the future of us all.

Produced by ABC Australia, distributed by Journeyman Pictures (less info)