How much nature would Denmark gain from fewer animals for export?
Besvaret 26. oktober 2026
The sources confirm that most of Denmark's farmed land grows feed and that Denmark produces far more than it eats: self-sufficiency was 333 percent for pork and 156 percent for dairy in 2021. No source models ending exports, so the total gain for nature is unknown.
An Aarhus University note roughly puts conventional pigs and poultry at 22 percent of Denmark's area and conventional cattle at 15 percent. Globally, livestock uses 80 percent of farmland but gives 17 percent of calories.
Another Aarhus note finds that 10 percent fewer animals would cut greenhouse gases by about 7 percent and ammonia by 5 percent. That is less than if the land became nature, as the note assumes it keeps growing crops, with mineral fertiliser replacing manure. Growing the imported feed at home would take about 870,000 hectares.
In 54 high-income countries, a diet with far less meat, the EAT-Lancet diet, could free over 426 million hectares, which as nature could take up about 98 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents over time. Location decides the gain for wildlife and water, says the Danish Climate Council. Farming causes over 95 percent of ammonia emissions, and its nitrogen is the main cause of oxygen depletion at sea, according to the environment ministry.
But production may move abroad if demand there doesn't fall, though climate targets in the EU countries buying much of the exports limit extra emissions. And only about 15 percent of livestock feed worldwide is edible for people.
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