Between Sequence and Urgency: Climate Justice Temporalities in Denmark

With Stefan Gaardsmand Jacobsen

Abstract
The temporal understanding of just climate action in Denmark is oscillating between prioritizing sequence and urgency. Echoing the UNFCCC’s principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’, the Danish Climate Act of 2020 recognizes Denmark's "historical and moral responsibility to take first steps" in mitigating global climate change. However, while the Act pays respect to the sequence of climate actions in line with some IPCC principles on responsibility and justice, experts and advocacy communities show a more complex engagement with justice and urgency across Danish civil society and interest groups. 

The Danish Climate Council has repeatedly expressed doubts regarding whether the decarbonization target set in the Climate Act aligns with the Paris Agreement and the IPCC's interpretation of climate justice. A similar understanding has led various groups in Danish civil society – such as ActionAid, CARE, DGUB, NOAH, FridaysforFuture, and Cevea – to launch campaigns and alliances that aim to prioritize global climate justice in Danish national politics. They focus on the temporality of new justice-based decarbonization pathways for Denmark, which seems to inspire more mainstreamed policy groups to sharpen their stance of climate action urgency. 

This talk introduces the project plans for "JusTiDe: Climate Justice Temporalities in Denmark" and provides an overview of how historical insights on justice-conceptions align with current tendencies in Danish temporal discourses. 

Stefan Gaarsmand Jacobsen is the director of the Center for Applied Ecological Thinking at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. His research interests center on climate politics, ecocultural futures and the history of environmental movements. He has previously investigated the development of the global climate justice movement, focusing on economic, cultural, and political ideas emerging from campaigns and mobilization.