The parties behind Denmark’s green tripartite agreement have agreed to raise the compensation pool for the country’s new nitrogen regulation model to 1.92 billion kroner in 2027.
The increase is 692 million kroner more than the amount originally agreed, DR reports. The money is intended to help farmers adjust to the new rules, which take effect on January 1, 2027.
The change was announced by the Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare on its website. Per the ministry, the level of compensation was set on the basis of an assessment by the University of Copenhagen of what the nitrogen regulation will cost agriculture next year.
Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare Christian Rabjerg Madsen of the Social Democrats said oxygen depletion must be brought under control and life returned to Danish fjords and coastal waters. According to the ministry statement, he added that the new model needs to take effect quickly, and that farmers must receive the help they need to convert.
Where the money comes from
Of the 692 million kroner, 500 million kroner comes from the government’s budget bill for next year. The remaining 192 million kroner is reprioritized from a reserve earmarked for subsidies for the storage of biochar, known as pyrolysis.
As stated by the ministry, the reprioritization is possible because some of the conditions for opening the pyrolysis tender later this year have been delayed. The nitrogen regulation is part of the Danish fertilizer act, and the model has drawn criticism from the farming sector.
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The former SVM government reached a political agreement in December 2025 with the other parties behind the green tripartite: the Socialist People’s Party, Liberal Alliance, the Conservatives and the Social Liberals. The agreement set out how agriculture’s future nitrogen discharges are to be distributed.
From next year, farmers will each hold a quota for their nitrogen discharges into fjords and coastal waters. The quotas are to be adjusted as new measurements show how much nitrogen the water environment can absorb, and as farmers convert land to nature.
The temporarily increased nitrogen regulation is to be phased out as farmers take land out of production and reduce their discharges. Individual farmers are to be encouraged to set aside fields with potential to become wetland areas rather than cultivating them.
Together with improved wastewater treatment, the new model is intended to cut nitrogen discharges by about 10,100 tons a year. The stated aim is to improve the water environment and help restore life in Danish fjords and coastal waters.
