Denmark’s climate think tank Concito has laid out five sharp transport proposals for the next government, challenging the current coalition’s reluctance to tax cars and aviation while road and air emissions continue to undermine national climate targets.
The proposals arrive as Denmark remains off track on transport emissions despite progress in other sectors. The think tank’s senior consultant for mobility and infrastructure, Søren Have, argues that policy must reflect the true societal cost of each journey. That means higher tolls for trucks, aviation taxes tied to climate impact, scrapping uneconomic road projects, and dropping expensive green fuel subsidies that deliver questionable climate gains.
The recommendations collide head on with the direction set by the current SVM government. Last June, the coalition reallocated funds within Infrastrukturplan 2035, scaling back rail megaprojects while pouring billions into motorway expansions along the E45 and other national roads. Environmental groups and climate economists warned the deal would increase car traffic and make Denmark’s 70 percent emissions reduction target harder to reach by 2030.
Keep truck tolls and fuel taxes high
Concito’s first two proposals ask the government to hold the line on existing charges. The current truck toll should stay in place, Have argues, because heavy transport remains undertaxed by roughly three kroner per kilometre relative to the external costs it imposes through road wear, accidents and pollution. If anything, Denmark should raise the toll to match German levels rather than bow to industry pressure for cuts.
Fuel taxes should also remain untouched. If high pump prices pinch household budgets, Concito suggests a temporary cut to vehicle ownership taxes for fossil cars instead. That relieves the social pressure without rewarding each extra kilometre driven. The external costs of congestion, emissions and accidents do not disappear just because fuel happens to be expensive this year.
Tax aviation to match its climate footprint
Denmark’s passenger ticket tax on flights should rise sharply until the EU emissions trading system fully covers aviation’s climate impact, according to the third proposal. Right now long haul flights carry a disproportionate climate burden that domestic policy ignores. Concito points out that hiking aviation taxes is both economically sound and socially fair, since it is mainly high earners in Copenhagen and Aarhus who fly frequently.
The government has committed to making domestic flights fossil free by 2030, with a flagship green route from Copenhagen to Sønderborg. But analysts warn that sustainable aviation fuel carries sky high costs per tonne of CO₂ avoided. EU rules under RefuelEU Aviation will anyway mandate increasing use of such fuels at all airports, limiting how distinctive Denmark’s national targets really are.
Trim the bloated infrastructure plan
Concito’s fourth recommendation is to cut seven specific projects from Infrastrukturplan 2035, saving the state 29 billion kroner and freeing scarce construction resources. The think tank calculates that Denmark would gain more than six billion kroner in net social value by cancelling those schemes, while avoiding over one million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
The argument rests on timing and priorities. Many projects were approved before recent price surges and the war in Ukraine upended fiscal assumptions. Meanwhile Denmark desperately needs workers, machinery and materials to maintain and climate proof existing roads and rail, expand the electricity grid, and extend district heating. If anything should be built, Have insists, it is cycle paths. Society gains roughly eight kroner every time someone cycles a kilometre.
Get more from what we already have
The fifth strand urges a shift in mindset from building more to using better. Road pricing, simpler and flatter public transport fares, and more frequent bus and train services would all increase the productivity of Denmark’s existing infrastructure. Concito also calls for integrating land use planning with transport strategy so that homes, jobs and services cluster in ways that reduce the need for long trips.
This philosophy clashes with the broad infrastructure consensus that has dominated Danish politics for decades. Mega projects win cross party support because they promise growth and connection without asking anyone to drive less. But instruments that directly shape behaviour, like congestion charges or higher parking fees, split the Folketing along a clear urban rural fault line.
The missing tool nobody wants
Klimarådet, DTU Transport and Concito all identify national road pricing as the single most effective lever to cut car traffic and emissions. Their modelling shows a distance and location based charge could reduce driving by five to ten percent and deliver millions of tonnes of CO₂ cuts toward 2030. Yet the current government explicitly chose not to pursue such a system this term.
Copenhagen’s mayor continues to push for a local congestion ring, but municipalities lack legal authority to levy road charges without new legislation from the Folketing. The SVM coalition cites fairness to suburban commuters as reason enough to avoid reopening the debate. That leaves Denmark in a bind familiar to anyone who has lived here long enough to watch climate ambitions collide with political caution.
SF, Enhedslisten and Radikale back some form of road pricing. Venstre, Konservative and Danmarksdemokraterne warn against a commuter tax. Socialdemokratiet remains non committal. The expert consensus is clear. The political will is not.
Drop expensive green fuel subsidies
Concito’s final proposal is the bluntest. Stop subsidising green fuels for transport. Whether it is rapeseed diesel for trucks, used cooking oil for planes, or power to X fuels that waste green electricity, the climate return per krone spent is dismal compared with simpler measures like better buses or cheaper train tickets.
EU law will anyway push sustainable fuels into the market
