At an altitude of 85 metres, skiers take to the slopes, making initially hesitant turns before enjoying the slide. Apart from the mountain equipment, there is nothing ordinary about the experience. Not the image: users, in T-shirts and shorts, cross a green plastic net, skirting trees but also pipes from which fumes escape. The alignment of the buttocks is juxtaposed with that of the wind turbines in the distance. Not the sound: the squeak of skis and snowboards mixes with the song of birds and the muffled whistle of the power station. CopenHill is a unique concept in the world: a 465-metre-long ski slope installed on the roof of an imposing factory that produces energy from waste in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the symbols of the city’s fight to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The Danish capital has long been a pioneer in the fight against the climate crisis. In 2009, it set itself the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025, meaning no more CO2 emissions.2 that natural wells, such as trees, cannot absorb it. At the time, the project was radical, almost revolutionary. No other city or even country is aiming to achieve “net zero” at such an early date at the moment. Paris only adopted such a goal in 2018 and France in 2019, each time up to 2050. “In 2009, when Copenhagen hosted the COP15 on climate, the municipality wanted to participate in order to do something extraordinary. The first climate plan, adopted in 2012, was considered extremely ambitious.”says Line Barfod, one of the city’s seven mayors, responsible for technical and environmental matters, in a city dominated by left-wing parties.
Copenhagen has come a long way, but it will not reach its goal. At least not by 2025. “I was disappointed, but we almost reached our goal. We hope to get there soon, maybe in 2026, 2027 or 2028.”It will all depend on the state aid the city hopes to obtain so that the Copenhagen Hill incinerator, the Amager Bakke, run by the public company Amager Resource Center, can capture and store its CO2 emissions.2.
The stakes are high, and far exceed the capital’s 660,000 inhabitants – or even the 5.8 million Danes. Cities are now home to more than half of humanity (they will be home to three-quarters by 2050) and are responsible for around 70% of GHG emissions. Finding solutions to decarbonise transport, buildings, energy production systems, consumption and food waste is crucial to limiting warming and avoiding its worst effects, from heat waves to floods.
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