Monday Morning News & Notes
Climate change health impacts. New COVID variant.
🍃Environment & Energy⚡️
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Here comes the rain
It begins. Denmark recorded a new rainfall record on Friday when 144.6 mm of rain hit the ground over an 18-hour period. The Danish Meteorological Institute said that is the most rainfall on record in any day in September since they began keeping records back in 1874. The institute said it is also twice the climate-normal amount of rain for the entire month.
The deluge was by far the worst in Jutland, with major flooding in Esbjerg and Vejle, while the islands of Fyn and Sjælland saw little if any rain.
South West Jutland Fire Department Director of Emergency Services Jens Mølgaard told Denmark’s P4 Syd that the sheer volume of rain and subsequent flooding was beyond belief.
“In my 30 years as a firefighter, I have never experienced anything as massive as this.”
Friday made 32 days this year with at least one cloudburst somewhere in the country. The record is 34 days set in 2019. DMI defines a cloudburst as at least 15 millimetres of rain within a half hour period. The weather agency has been tracking cloudbursts since 2011.
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Rain Records Fall
2023 was the wettest year on record (972.2 mm of rainfall) in Denmark but 2024 is inching closer and closer. So far, 760 millimetres of rain has fallen in the country this year, which is just over the average annual rainfall for the entire country.
There has been no shortage of broken rain records this year.
January 3, was the wettest January day in Denmark in weather history.
Copenhagen recorded its wettest February day ever (24.9 mm).
Rainfall in February, April, and July were all double the normal monthly amount.
Every month so far this year, with the exception of March, has been wetter than normal.
This past summer was the wettest since 2011, and 6th wettest on record.
September 27 was the wettest September day ever.
There have been 40% more cloudy days this year (31) than the average since 2011.
All ten of the wettest years on record in Denmark have occurred since 1980.
🇫🇮
Old Man Winter Cometh
Finnish Lapland recorded its first official snowfall of the season. Last week, three centimetres of snow fell in the country’s far north. The Finnish Meteorological Institute measures “first snow” of the season when at least a centimetre is on the ground by 9 am on the day in question.
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Earthquakes Rattle Sweden
Three small earthquakes were recorded on Saturday in Northern Sweden near the border with Finland. The three quakes were around Malmberget, with the first just after five o’clock in the afternoon registering as a 1.83 on the Richter scale. The second. The. At six o’clock, a second slightly stronger quake (1.6) arrived. The third one was even stronger (2.61) and struck seven minutes after the second quake.
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Climate Change Health Impacts
The Swedish Public Health Agency has conducted a risk analysis on the health impacts posed by climate change. The agency has determined 14 different climate change-related health risks for people in Sweden, ranging from food, water, and air quality to an increased spread of a variety of diseases.
But the biggest threat is from heat waves driven by severe weather. It says longer and more severe heat waves will mean an increase in health risks and potentially premature deaths among seniors, young children, pregnant women, and people dealing with chronic diseases.
Unit Manager Karin Ljung Björklund:
“Although the analysis shows that heat waves pose the greatest threat to human health, more knowledge is needed about all identified health risks and how they can be prevented in order not to risk unnecessary suffering and increased inequality in health. Climate change is not some threat that happens in the future it is happening here and now. In order to prevent the negative health effects of climate change, we need to work together to increase society's ability to deal with them.”
The other health risks posed by climate change include an increase in pollen allergies, more tick, rodent, and mosquito-borne diseases, a rise in chronic diseases caused by air pollution, rising numbers of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by wildfire smoke, drinking water contamination from flooding, and increasing cases of climate change-related mental health issues.
🇪🇺🇩🇰
EU Nature Law Under Fire
With three months to go before it comes into force, a law passed by the European Union to protect forests is coming under increasing criticism. The EU Commission has yet to even publish crucial fact sheets and guidelines to help stakeholders navigate the new legislation.
The law is an attempt by the EU to tackle deforestation. The EU legislation, the first of its kind, mandates that it will be illegal to sell raw materials in Europe like cocoa, palm oil, coffee, soy beans, wood, and even cattle if they come from a region in the world where deforestation or forest degradation is taking place.
Christian Democrat MEP Christophe Hansen was the main negotiator in establishing the law.
“Every single year we lose a forested area equivalent to the size of Portugal, and therefore we no longer want to be complicit in this global deforestation.”
But the law is under increasing fire. Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s largest producers of palm oil, have been fiercely critical of the legislation. Within Europe, organizations like the EU Cocoa Association, large coffee and tea producers, and others, have demanded the law be postponed. On the country level, Germany is also calling for a six month delay before the law comes into force, as are some parties within the European Parliament.
But environmental groups like Denmark’s Verdens Skoe (Forests of the World) are urging the EU to stay the course.
Verdens Skoe Advisor Anne-Sofie Sadolin Henningsen spoke to DR:
“We have a huge problem with deforestation, and it will only continue if this law does not come into force as planned. It is a ground-breaking and ambitious law, and instead of talking about whether it should be postponed or not, we should rather look at how we can help countries to adjust. In addition, companies such as Nestlé and Ferrero have spent a lot of resources on ensuring they will comply with the new law. And if you postpone it, you only help those who are dragging their feet.”
Deforestation is a significant climate change issue. Trees absorb large amounts of CO2 and are vital to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 90% of global deforestation is due to agricultural practices in South America and Southeast Asia. With global temperatures rising and more severe droughts, there are more wildfires, which are the second largest contributor to global warming.
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Cracks in the Green Agreement
Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that: intentions.”
Author Jordan Belfort.
Last July, the Danish Government, the Nature Conservation Society, and the Agriculture and Food Council were united by intentions as they signed a green tripartite agreement. The three parties agreed that 400,000 hectares of farmland would be taken out of operation and converted in nature and forest areas for the betterment of the climate, nature, and the marine environment. Barely three months later, cracks are now emerging on the actions required to realize the agreement’s goals.
The Danish Nature Conservation Society and green think tank Concito have tabled a new analysis that in order to meet the requirements in the tripartite agreement, there will need to be an 11% reduction in livestock. Fewer farmlands, fewer animals. However, while 11% doesn’t sound like a lot, the trimming of livestock could mean that for some individual farms in Jutland it could mean up to 74% fewer cows and pigs. The numbers have received a chilly response from the Agriculture and Food Council.
Environment Director Anders Panum Jensen dismisses the calculations outright.
“We actually believe that we can maintain strong livestock production at the levels that we have today, at the same time as we implement this agreement. If we do it wisely and make the right efforts, create forests, and new nature areas in the right places in relation to where we have our livestock production, then we think that we can achieve these goals while also maintaining our livestock production.”
To quote the bard, therein lies the rub, according to Maria Reumert Gjerding, president of Denmark's Nature Conservation Association.
“If we are to meet the long-term climate change agriculture goals, I am absolutely convinced that we are looking at having significantly fewer livestock. There are some places in Denmark where agriculture will probably have to disappear completely. The important thing for me is that we comply with the agreement we have entered into. And here we have said that at least 400,000 hectares of agricultural land must no longer be cultivated. We must take out the fields that are located near waterways and the sea. And these are areas with a lot of livestock. So I think that no matter how clever you try to be, there will be a very large decline in livestock.”
One of the key goals of the tripartite agreement is to create a buffer between agricultural land and waterways in order to prevent nitrogen leakage into the marine environment.
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Build it and the Fish Will Come
Denmark is working to restore marine biodiversity by building new reefs in the Kattegat, the waterway separating Sweden and Denmark. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency says that over the centuries stones have been removed from the seafloor to build harbours, castles, and churches. That in turn has destroyed 80% of the valuable reefs that provided vital sea life habitat.
Today, efforts are underway to reverse the damages. Stones have been sourced from a quarry in Norway that were determined to be the same type left behind in Danish waters in the last ice age. The agency says 19,000 tonnes of stone has been used to create two new reefs in the Kattegat along the north coast of Sjælland.
Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke:
“It is a political agreement on the restoration of marine nature that is behind the project. Rocks have been removed from the Danish seabed for decades. This means that a lot of marine life have lost the habitat they need to live in the sea. We must therefore restore more of our marine habitat we have lost.”
The creation of a third reef will begin over the winter months.
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The Wadden Sea National Park is usually happy to have guests, but that is not the case with the latest visitors to show up, invasive rodent species like muskrats. The rodents have been spotted near Rømø. The concern is that the rodents can destroy river banks and bore holes in dykes, essentially undermining natural flood protection barriers.
National Park Consultant Jørn Bøgen:
“They tend to make passages in the dykes, and if there is a storm surge and there are holes in the dyke, it will increase the chance that the dyke will give way.”
Park staff are setting out traps to capture the rodents.
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Where is the beef?
If you shop at REMA 1000 you might notice packages of ground beef are a little smaller than they used to be. The grocery store chain is trying to reduce meat consumption by trimming packages of ground beef by up to 20%.
Per a press release from the grocery store chain:
“Beef is at the top when it comes to the most climate-harming products, and many Danes would like to eat a little less meat to make their contribution to the transition.”
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Denmark’s Aquatic Crisis
Thousands of dead fish have been washed ashore on Lundø on the Limforden. Locals say they have never seen anything like it. The prime suspect is a lack of oxygen in the water. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s latest testing showed less than two milligrams of oxygen per litre in the water. The agency says this indicates severe oxygen depletion.
Marine Biologist Thomas Brændgaard:
“My immediate guess is that the fish died due to oxygen depletion, but it cannot be ruled out that it could also be due to toxic algae, because a large bloom of toxic algae has been measured in Løgstør Bredning.”
Oxygen depletion has led to a catastrophic environmental disaster playing out in Denmark’s inland waterways. The cause is agricultural fertilizer and sewage from big cities being washed into waterways.
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Have Highway, Insects Will Travel
A first of its kind insect highway is being built in Jutland. The Danish Road Directorate says the insect highway will be located between Aarhus and Vejle. It will stretch some 60 kilometres in length and use 150 hectares of land that will be planted with wild flowers and other insect-friendly vegetation. The first of those seeds were sown just last week. While the first flowers will sprout next spring, the highway itself won’t be completed in its entirety until 2028.
As part of the fight against climate change, Denmark has been working to improve biodiversity. Due to large swaths of the country being agricultural land largely growing monoculture crops, it creates, from an insect perspective, essentially huge deserts. That has led to a decline in different insect varieties, including bees, which are so vital to the ecosystem as pollinators.
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Denmark a Pesticide Hypocrite.
Pesticides containing a substance called dimethoate are banned in the European Union and in Denmark. Dimethoate can attack the nervous system in humans, causing severe physical reactions and, in cases, death. However, an investigation by Danish national broadcaster has found that Denmark continues to allow the dangerous pesticide to be exported to countries like Bolivia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia. The
Danish Member of the European Parliament Kira Marie Peter-Hansen says this is clearly unacceptable.
“If we know that the chemical damages our fertility, makes us sick, and damages our nature, how can we allow it to cause the same damages in other parts of the world?”
Denmark is now in the crosshairs of a number of environmental and special interest organizations across Europe who are lobbying to stop all exports of dangerous and illegal pesticides.
In response, Danish Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a press release that he will work for a pan-European ban on pesticides in EU meetings next month.
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The Huge Cost of Climate Change.
Sweden is looking at a huge bill to improve road and highway infrastructure due to climate change. The Swedish Transportation Administration will have to spend billions of Swedish kroner on climate-proofing roads and highways. Last July, a huge cloudburst dumped 100 millimetres of rain on a section of the country in just three hours. The downpour didn’t just cause flooding; it destroyed a section of one of the country’s busiest highways. The sudden flood of water overwhelmed the built in drainage, pushing up the styrofoam blocks under the highway and destroying the road above. The highway was closed for two days before it was fully repaired.
The transportation agency also notes that there was an unusually high amount of weather-related traffic incidents and disruptions across the country last year. With climate change meaning a lot more rain and other severe weather events in the Nordics, the agency is anticipating the situation will only continue to get worse.
The Swedish Transport Administration is going to spend over two billion Swedish kroner over the next 12 years just on special climate adaptation measures.
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Plastic Woes in Finland.
Shredded plastic is showing up in fertilizers in Finland. The Finnish Food Authority has traced the problem to grocery stores and restaurants that don’t remove plastic packaging when they throw out expired food. The agency says the law allows for a certain amount of plastic based on the overall weight of the food waste being tossed out. However, the Finnish Environment Ministry is now convening a group of stakeholders to look at whether legislation needs to be tightened to crack down on plastic ending up in biodegradable food waste.
According to one Finnish newspaper, there is the equivalent of 240 bags worth of shredded plastic in every 20 tonnes of liquid manure.
🇨🇭 🇮🇹
Warning Planet, Shifting Border
Here is an unexpected impact of climate change. Glacier melt in the Alps caused by global warming has resulted in Italy and Switzerland redrawing their borders. By adjusting the border, it will be easier for the two neighbouring countries to decide who is responsible for the maintenance of specific natural areas. Switzerland signed off on the border changes on Friday, approval is still pending in Italy.
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Denmark’s EV Revolution.
The sheer number of electric vehicles being sold in Denmark is blowing past all expectations, and while that is great for reducing emissions, it is blowing a massive hole in the Danish government’s budget. In order to encourage EV sales, the registration tax on electric vehicles was significantly lowered. That, combined with falling prices and climate concerns, has translated to EV sales shooting through the roof. In August, EVs accounted for more than half of all new car sales. Conversely, fossil fuel vehicle sales and the associated registration tax revenue are steadily dropping.
When the Danish government lowered the registration tax to encourage EV sales in 2020, they allocated 7.9 billion Danish kroner to cover the anticipated loss in tax revenue based on estimated sales numbers. Since, EV sales have exploded, vastly exceeding those estimates. According to calculations from the Centre for Political Studies (Cepos), so many EVs are flying off car lots; the lost tax revenue in the last four years alone is already more than 18 billion kroner.
If the government sticks to the incentive plan it tabled in 2020, the registration tax savings on EVs will begin to be phased out in 2026, reaching 100% by 2035.
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Winter Energy Pricing Arrives.
As of October 1, energy companies in Denmark will switch to winter pricing, which will mean electricity use could become more expensive depending on when it is used. Over the winter, energy companies implement a winter tariff to both cover their costs and to incentive people to use electricity during off-peak hours. This is to take as much pressure off of the power grid during peak periods.
Tariffs vary depending on the energy company. However, generally, costs will be much lower in the off-peak hours from midnight to 6 am compared to peak pricing hours from 6 am until 5 pm.
Green Power Denmark Deputy Managing Director Mette Rose Skaksen says people looking to save money will need to think strategically.
“You need to think twice about when you charge the electric car and when you turn on the dishwasher in the evening.”
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The Energy Transition vs Farming.
There is a battle for land playing out across Denmark. On one side you have farmers and huge swaths of agricultural land. On the other hand, you have big business interests looking to build solar energy farms as fast as possible.
Denmark’s Landbrugmæglerne, which is a real estate agency specializing in agricultural and rural properties, tells DR that their phones are ringing off the hook. The agency says companies are hunting for land to place huge numbers of solar panels and are willing to pay quite a bit over the asking price to secure land.
Currently, solar energy farms cover about 3,200 hectares of land across Denmark. But with solar being an important part of Denmark’s ambitious green energy transition plans, that number will continue to grow. The Danish Climate Council estimates that by 2050, 44,000 hectares of land will be covered by solar panels. The demand is driving an increase in property prices and suddenly making solar cells a more profitable venture than farming. The per-hectare agricultural land value has increased by 22% in just two years.
But while some farmers cash in and laugh all the way to the bank, there is a downside. For less established or new farmers intent on working the land, the cost of growing their farm has risen dramatically. The loss in farmland could also have future repercussions on food production.
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The Electric Trains That Could
Region Sjælland is saying goodbye to its fleet of old diesel powered trains. One billion Danish kroner (about $202 million Cdn) is being allocated for the purchase of 14 new state-of-the-art electric trains. The new rail cars are expected to be on the rails servicing local rail routes across Sjælland, Lolland, and Falster by 2028. The deal with Swiss train maker Stadler also includes the option for ten more electric trains.
The region is also converting a third of its public transit bus fleet to electric in the same tender as the train cars. It has set the goal of having 66% of its bus fleet converted to electricity by 2027.
Regional Council Chair Trine Birk Andersen says the big step forward in the green energy transition will cut the region’s greenhouse gas emissions by 51%.
“It is a significant milestone in the green transformation and a strengthening of regional public transport, which binds our region together. I am proud that we can provide passengers with new, green, and state-of-the-art means of transport that will hopefully get even more people to use public transport.”
The new trains will have a lot more of the creature comforts that are missing on the old diesel trains that run the rails today. They will also be a lot faster, traveling up to 160 kilometres an hour.
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Tall Expectations
The tallest wind turbine in the world came online in Denmark on Friday. The huge turbine stands 266 meters tall, soaring over the harbour in Thyborøn on Jutland.
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Hello Tidal Power
While solar power and wind energy get a lot of the spotlight in the green energy transition, tidal power production has entered the picture. A Swedish company, Minesto, has pioneered a new technology that makes it possible to use water flow to generate electricity even in a place not known for particularly strong currents, like Sweden. The company has pioneered a system using subsea kites, called Dragons, to surf water currents, even weak ones, to generate power.
Minesto has been testing its subsea kite system in the Faroe Islands, generating electricity in amounts pretty close to the production of a standard wind turbine.
Technology Manager Bernt Erik Westre says the beauty of tidal power technology is that currents and water flows, unlike wind and sunshine, are completely consistent.
“The tides are controlled by the movements of the sun and the moon. It makes it reliable. The kite flies across the tidal current, which makes it fly much faster than the tide. It is a very innovative technology.”
The company is planning a large-scale buildout of its tidal power system around the Faroe Islands. Its goal is to generate 350 gigawatts of electricity per year. That would cover about 40% of the Faroe Islands electricity consumption.
“Our technology has a potential that is 1.5 times greater than the total installed power of nuclear power today.”
Minesto is also looking to deploy the system in rivers across Sweden.
Great Britain, South Korea, Canada, and China have all harnessed tidal power, albeit with different technologies.
🦠Outbreaks🦠
🌍 🦠
New Variant Alert
Another new COVID variant has joined the parade of virus mutations that have been spit out over the last few years. This one, called XEC, is a recombinant strain being born out of a mix of KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants, both of which are JN.1 sub-variants. That is a lot of letters and numbers, so just think of them all as part of the Omicron family.
As is the case with any new coronavirus mutation, there are more questions than answers at this point about the potential impacts as the variant circulates. The WHO has added it to its ‘variants under monitoring’ list, where it joins six other virus mutations the world health agency is keeping an eye on. There are only two variants on the more serious ‘variants of interest’ list, BA.2.86 and JN.1.
According to the WHO, XEC is more infectious than previous strains but doesn’t appear to cause any increased disease severity, which is key. The COVID variant first popped up in Germany but quickly spread around the globe. In the United States the variant already makes up 5.7% of new infections. The global health agency says XEC is confirmed to be circulating in at least 28 countries. Although it should be noted that with a lack of testing around the world, we are only seeing a tiny fraction of the overall infection picture and can only guess at the ‘real’ virus situation.
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Europe’s Mixed COVID Picture
Across the European Union, COVID activity is generally on the decline, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. However, the agency notes that is not the case in every country. Only four countries - Germany, Greece, Ireland, and Malta - reported testing results from patients being admitted to hospitals. The positivity percentage swung wildly between the four, as low as 2.5% and as high as 35%. The one thing they all had in common was that seniors over 65 are being hit much harder than any other age group. The ECDC added that Slovakia and the Czech Republic both reported an increase in coronavirus-infected hospital admissions.
Sweden is among seven countries that are seeing an increasing number of COVID deaths. The other six are Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
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Fall Inoculation Time
The fall vaccination campaign begins tomorrow across Denmark. Seniors over 65, pregnant women, and anyone with chronic diseases or who are immunocompromised are eligible for a COVID vaccine booster dose and a flu shot. Invitations went out at the beginning of September and should have arrived by the 25th for everyone who is eligible.
Once you have received an invitation, you have to make a vaccination appointment. You can do that HERE.
Vaccination centers can be found all over Denmark. Locate one near you HERE.
The five Danish regions are collaborating with Danske Lægers (Danish Doctors) Vaccinations Service to get everyone vaccinated this fall.
Region Southern Denmark CEO Kurt Espersen says a lot of work went into being ready for this year’s vaccination campaign.
“We are already well underway with the collaboration, and are delighted that we will soon be able to open the doors and invite citizens inside at over 65 locations in the region. We hope that the citizens will welcome the Danske Lægers Vaccinations Service, which will be making their presence felt present in a lot of Danish cities as of October 1. Last year, Denmark and the Region Syddanmark were tops in Europe for vaccination uptake, and I very much hope that we will achieve this again.”
Region Midtjylland Council Chair Anders Kühnau:
“Seasonal vaccinations are a very good opportunity for citizens who are at particular risk of having severe infections. I hope that as many as possible will get vaccinated, so that they will both protect themselves and their loved ones.”
The Danish regions will also be doing vaccination outreach, ensuring seniors in care homes or who have mobility issues can get vaccinated in the comfort of their own home.
This year, children two to six years old will not be offered an influenza vaccination. Uptake among that group in recent years has been abysmal.
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The Epidemic under the Pandemic
Long-COVID continues to be a huge problem. According to a self described “rough estimate” from the Finnish Institute for Health, some 21,000 people in Finland have been diagnosed with long-COVID since the pandemic began.
A woman living in Helsinki published a book last week describing her years long struggle with long-COVID. Ina Westman was infected early in the pandemic when COVID swept across the globe in 2020. She says that she is still battling symptoms all these years later.
"I started having arrhythmias all the time, and my heart rate was through the roof. After weeks of migraines, I couldn't sleep, and I could no longer see clearly. It was shocking.”
According to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine in August, an estimated 400 million people have been afflicted with long-COVID around the world. The study says the economic cost is massive, with an estimated $1 trillion spent annually worldwide on treatment and associated economic impacts.
🇩🇰 🇺🇸
Danish Vaccine Maker Booming
Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic is again making headlines after signing a deal worth more than 400 million Danish kroner (more than $80 million Cdn) with the United States. The agreement requires the Danish company to supply American health authorities with millions of doses of smallpox and mpox vaccines. Bavarian Nordic has been doing business with the United States since 2003. This latest vaccine contract aimed at restoring American vaccine stockpiles and preparing in the event the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa migrates to the United States.
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Big Vaccine Donation
The United States will donate one million doses of the mpox vaccine along with $500 million to African countries to support the outbreak response. In August, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency for the second time in as many years. A new mpox variant called ‘Clade 1’ is driving a huge outbreak among African countries. New cases have been confirmed in India, raising the alarm even further.
🇺🇦Ukraine/Russia War🇷🇺
Ukraine Drums Up Support
In a speech to the UN Security Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russia will never choose to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine instead, Russia must be forced to the table.
“Putin has violated so many international norms and rules that he will not stop on his own Russia can only be forced to make peace. And that is exactly what is needed: to force Russia to peace as the only attacking party in this war and as the only one that has violated the UN Charter.”
Zelenskyy spent last week in the United States speaking to various political movers and shakers, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He also addressed the UN General Assembly.
🇩🇰 🇺🇦
Denmark Sends Help
Denmark is donating 130 million Danish kroner (about $26 million Cdn) to Ukraine to help piece its battered and bombed energy infrastructure back together. This donation is on top of the €160 million donated by the EU just over a week ago, using interest from frozen Russian funds, to help, among other things, repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The Danish donation is earmarked for emergency measures to restore the flow of energy as well as the purchase of equipment and spare parts.
The Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Supply writes in a press release that since March of this year, 80% of Ukraine’s infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian attacks.
It isn’t just the Danish government companies and businesses in Denmark have banded together to donate energy equipment to Ukraine on four separate occasions.
Climate and Energy Minister Lars Aagaard underscores that even this latest donation is not enough to help war-torn Ukraine.
“The world must give much more to Ukraine. They are heading into what might be an absolutely terrible winter. The Russians have destroyed their power plants and substations. They find it very difficult to supply themselves with energy.”
Aagaard says Ukraine desperately requires three things. More air defenses to protect vital infrastructure, more money to buy backup transformers, and more international cooperation to establish a new energy system.
“We have helped them build wind turbines. Vestas is actually building a wind farm in Ukraine during the fighting. It is a completely unique situation. So they must have an energy supply that is more spread out so that they do not have these few, very large power plants that can be targeted. What the Russians have destroyed is massive. So when peace comes, it will take many, many years to build out its energy supply.”
The minister revealed that a transformer station donated by Lithuania was destroyed by Russia just a few days after coming online. He says this underscores the race Ukraine and its allies are in to donate and protect vital infrastructure.
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Danish Donations Model Expands
Denmark is establishing a defense industrial hub in Ukraine based out of the Danish embassy. The goal is to build on the Danish donations model by strengthening cooperation between Danish and Ukrainian defense industries. Denmark has pioneered a new donations model where instead of directly donating weapons to Ukraine from existing stockpiles, instead Denmark is helping to create weapons production facilities in Ukraine and buying directly from them. This way the weapons are made closer to the front lines and can get to where they are needed faster.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen
“Ukraine needs the best possible support as soon as possible. Therefore, we must think together about public-private cooperation in the area of the defense industry. Denmark has already purchased equipment for the Ukrainian defense directly from the Ukrainian defense industry, and with the defense industrial hub at the embassy in Kyiv, we are now going one step further. Now we are strengthening the opportunity for Danish companies to also cooperate more directly with the Ukrainian defense industry.”
The Danish Defense Ministry says despite the challenges with the war waging nearby the Ukrainian defense industry is “developing rapidly.”
The Danish donations model has proven so effective that the EU has placed Denmark in charge of dispersing new funding drawn from the interest on billions in frozen Russian funds to Ukraine.
🇫🇮 🇸🇪 🇺🇦
EU or NATO first?
Ukraine must first join the European Union and then it can join NATO. That is the opinion of Finnish President Alexander Stubb. At last week’s Helsinki Security Forum, Stubb said that a country at war cannot join NATO but he believes the war will eventually end and Ukraine will be welcomed into the military alliance.
However, Sweden's new ambassador to Finland, Peter Ericson, disagreed with Stubbs. He noted that it is a very long complicated process to join the EU while joining NATO is a much less onerous.
"If a security arrangement is being built against Russia, shouldn't it be NATO, and NATO with Ukraine, as soon as possible?"
Finland has signed a bilateral defense deal, as have the other Nordic countries, with Ukraine pledging their support for joining both the European Union and NATO.
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Sweden’s Air Defense Shortfall
Sweden is desperately lacking air defenses. The Swedish Parliament’s Defense Committee has found that the country has enough air defense platforms to protect a mere 5% of the country. And those are concentrated on military bases and other sensitive military facilities, leaving most of the country perilously exposed to missile and drone attacks.
The war in Ukraine has been an eye opener on the role of drones in modern warfare and, conversely, the importance of air defenses.
Green Party Member of Parliament Emma Berginger says a complete rethink is needed on the strategic placement of air defenses and how they should also protect people and critical civilian infrastructure.
“As it looks today, our air defenses do not have the ability to protect all the civilian population, civilian infrastructure that we would need. I think this is a question of priorities, where the Green Party in many situations prioritizes the civilian population and civil infrastructure more than other parties.”
Defense Committee Chair Jörgen Berglund disagrees. He says the problem is much more complex than snapping your fingers and just buying a whole bunch of new air defense systems. He says for every new system you need properly trained personnel to operate and maintain them.
“It is not only the anti-aircraft capability that must increase, but it is on the support staff there are simply not enough resources.”
The Swedish government is working to table a new five year defense strategy this December. It will not only have the pressure of rapidly building up its military to meet the threat posed by Russia, but for the first time it will also have to factor in its commitments as a new member of NATO.
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Swedes in Space
Sweden is entering the space race, at least from a military perspective. Over the weekend, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson presented Sweden’s first ever strategy for defense and security in space.
“Space-based threats have increased, and Sweden is now developing its space defense in various ways, including the ability to build and launch its own military satellites. NATO's position is that attacks against allies in or from space constitute a danger to the alliance and that Article 5 may be activated in such situations. These threats need to be met and addressed.”
Jonson says the space defense and security strategy makes Sweden a better partner within NATO and puts it in a much better position of utilizing outer space to strengthen Sweden’s overall defenses.
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Money Trouble
Denmark’s Armed Forces are in a bit of a quandary. Despite a historic investment to strengthen the Danish military, the armed forces find themselves having to make cuts to meet extremely tight budgets. That is because most of the newly announced money comes in future years and not up front. However, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen is now opening the door to give the armed forces some fiscal help.
“We can consider whether it gives impetus to whether we should take some initiatives to do something here and now. But then we have to have a political discussion about it, and I am completely open to that.”
Back in March, the Danish government announced it would spend 40.5 billion kroner (about $8.1 billion Cdn) over the next five years to ramp up its military due to the threat posed by Russia.
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Romania’s Cash Injection
As Romania joins a growing list of European countries that are suddenly spending huge amounts of money on defense, it will have some financial help. The United States has agreed on a $920 million loan to help the country modernize its military. The loan has a 12-year repayment period.
Romania, a NATO member nation, borders Ukraine and has a front-row seat to the conflict raging on the other side. With Russia as a clear and present danger, Romania has been rushing to build up its military as fast as possible.
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Goodbye Russian
The Baltic states have not held back in opposing Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. Now Estonia is taking things a step further. The Estonian government has mandates that students in schools speak and be taught only in Estonian. The country has almost 300,000 ethnic Russians among its population, and in some areas near the border where Russia is literally just across the river, Russian has, until now, been a standard language in schools.
The transition is already underway, with classes from kindergarten up to grade four being taught only in Estonian. The goal is to make Estonian mandatory in all education programs by 2030.
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Allies Meet
Finnish President Alexander Stubb met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the U.S. as both were attending the UN General Assembly taking place in New York. Stubb told Zelenskyy that Finland will continue to support Ukraine, work to protect Ukrainians, and achieve a “just peace.”
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Rise of the Far Right
Election results in Austria have shaken Europe. The far-right pro-Russia FPÖ are projected to have taken about 29% of the vote, narrowly beating the incumbent ÖVP and Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Once the final results are official and assuming the projections hold, FPÖ would still need to find another party or two to align with in order to form government.
To put into context how far right FPÖ is, its leader Herbert Kickl campaigned using the moniker ‘the people’s chancellor,’ which was coined by one Austrian born Adolf Hitler. It ran on a platform of lifting sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, has tabled the idea of leaving the EU, and said it would pull Austria out of the European Skyshield air defense agreement. All music to Russia’s ears.
After Russia annexed Crimea, the FPÖ reached a ‘friendship agreement’ with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party. Funny enough, that document, which was never shared publicly, has since disappeared outright. Just last spring, a security police officer with close connections to FPÖ was arrested and charged with suspicion of spying for Russia.
If the party forms government, it will present the EU with an immediate security threat. The last time FPÖ was part of government western intelligence that was shared with Austria was leaked directly to Moscow. The issue was so serious that at the time Sweden and a number of other EU countries stopped sharing all sensitive intelligence with Austria.
Odds & Ends
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Cash No Longer King
ATMs may soon fade away, joining things like the rotary-dial telephone in the dustbin of history. In the Nordics, the use of cash is becoming rarer and rarer. Sweden has even legislated an end to paper money entirely, although that transition hasn’t gone as smoothly as it anticipated. One sign of the fading away of paper money is a dramatic drop in the number of businesses that do things like restock and maintain ATMs. In Sweden, they are down to just one, Loomis. Finland has just three; Loomis, Nokas, and Reila.
The issue in Finland has resulted in two problems. One is the concern over one company eventually having a monopoly (literally in this case), and the other is fewer and fewer bank machines being available for those still using cash, like tourists, for example.
The dwindling number of bank machines has caught the eye of the Bank of Finland.
Head of Payment Systems Päivi Heikkinen:
“This means there must be a sufficient number of cash withdrawal points within a reasonable distance, as well as the ability to pay in cash for essential everyday things.”
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Leaping Tuna
The once struggling Øresund Aquairum in Helsingør is now swamped with visitors, all thanks to the mighty Tuna. Back in 2017, the aquarium began offering tuna safaris, where people are taken by boat to areas where they can see tuna leaping out of the water. In the last seven years, the number of safari trips has exploded from four to 420. The boom also means a lot more money in the aquarium’s once starving coffers.
Aquarium Manager Jens Peder Jeppesen:
“It makes a world of difference, because we have made a really good profit on these tuna safaris. Then we can pass on the money to do what we do best, namely displaying life in the Øresund.”
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Tree Thieves
The tree bandit in Odder struck again. Last week, another 23 trees were cut down and hauled away. The municipality has again called the police, who were already investigating the disappearance of 31 trees that were cut down two weeks ago.
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Property Values Rise
According to the latest projections from Denmark’s National Bank, housing values are set to rise by 10% on average by the end of 2026. On average, that would mean a property value increase of about 229,000 kroner.
Bank director Christian Kettel Thomsen:
“We expect house prices to rise moderately over the coming years, with increases of just over three percent per year.”
If it comes to fruition, it will go a long way to climbing out of the 2022 drop when property values fell by 6.5% thanks to soaring inflation and increasing interest rates.
However, on the flip side, it is getting more expensive to get into the market in Denmark. The national bank says the cost of home ownership, the percentage of income required to buy a house, has also increased in recent years.
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Hakuna Matata
Visitors at Copenhagen Zoo witnessed a rather unexpected event over the weekend. The zoo says people at the lion cage raised the alarm when a mother lion suddenly gave birth to a new cub right in front of the crowd. Zoo staff knew the lioness was pregnant but hadn’t expected the actual birth so soon.
Sadly, spectators did not seize the moment and start singing ‘Circle of Life.’
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Pager Investigation
The sabotage of pagers that exploded all over Lebanon last week has sparked an investigation in Norway. The Norwegian Security Service (PST) has launched a preliminary investigation over allegations the pagers were linked to a Norwegian owned company.
The allegations were made by the media in Hungary, citing unnamed sources. Norway isn’t alone, Taiwan, Hungary, and Bulgari, have all launched their own probes to determine if they were part of the supply chain that resulted in the sabotaged pagers being distributed in Lebanon. The exploding pagers and walkie talkies claimed at least 42 lives.