Where: The Great Hall, Christiansborg
When: November 6, 2026, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
The aquatic environment has been a major focus of political debate in recent years—particularly how nitrogen emissions and oxygen depletion affect our seas and fjords—but there is another aspect that calls for political attention: the chemical pollution of our waters.
Under the EU Water Framework Directive, Denmark has committed to ensuring that its coastal areas achieve “good chemical” status by 2027. However, measurements show that limit values for environmentally hazardous substances are being exceeded for the vast majority of substances in the vast majority of the waters we are testing, and only a small fraction of these substances are being tested. This is a problem with direct consequences for the health of ecosystems, the viability of species along the Danish coast, species reproduction, and food safety.
Democracy x and Aarhus University, together with Torsten Gejl, a member of the Danish Parliament (Alternativet), invite you to a half-day conference on the dispersion, accumulation, and effects of substances hazardous to the environment and human health in our marine environment. NewSea, a research project funded by the VELUX FOUNDATION, will present proposals to ensure better documentation of which substances are entering the ocean, how they spread, what impact they have, and where efforts should be focused in future environmental management of the ocean.
At the conference, we will facilitate a discussion on future solutions to the accumulated chemical pollution, with NewSea providing new insights that will inform the discussion on how to address this issue.
The project has conducted extensive pilot studies in the Småland waters and is now ready to present its findings, which provide new insights in three key areas:
- Data Basis: New Measurement Methods for Identifying Chemical Substances and Their Concentrations
- Point Sources, Dispersion, and Bioaccumulation: How We Identify and Document Sources of Pollution, as Well as the Dispersion and Bioaccumulation of Environmentally Hazardous Substances in Organisms
- The Impact on Organisms: A Better Understanding of Threshold Values, Risks, and Biological Consequences
The conference will be held in the Fællessalen at the Danish Parliament on November 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and will bring together researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders for academic presentations, a panel discussion, and a discussion of policy options.
Schedule for the Day
- Coffee starting at 8:30 a.m.
- Overview Presentation
- NewSea Research and Recommendations
- Comments from the audience
- Stakeholder Panel Presents Its Proposed Course of Action
- A panel of politicians asks questions and offers comments
- End of the program and refreshments in the Vandrehallen from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
About NewSea
NewSea is a project led by researchers at Aarhus University that investigates environmentally hazardous substances in Danish waters. At Democracy x, we are responsible for citizen and stakeholder engagement in the project. The project’s findings will be presented to stakeholders, policymakers, and government agencies at the conference at Christiansborg. NewSea is funded by the VELUX FOUNDATION.
