Coalition Clean Baltic urges Danish authorities to stop the construction of Lynetteholm island

Coalition Clean Baltic • September 26, 2023

Coalition Clean Baltic calls to stop the Lynetteholm project that may result in environmental disaster in the Baltic Sea.

September 2023 - In 2021 the majority of the Danish Parliament adopted a Construction Act which allowed the constructor By & Havn and the Ministry of Transport to start the Lynetteholm project: an artificial peninsula in the Copenhagen harbour as a new district area in the city, that will house 35,000 residents and 35,000 workplaces. This project was approved despite Swedish criticism and without consultation of all the Baltic Sea countries.


In the same year, an Executive Order was introduced, nullifying the environmental laws in place and preventing complains. The only way for citizens, municipalities and associations to be heard is to raise a case in the national courts.


Environmental issues

The construction of this artificial island may block the flow of salt, oxygen-rich water into the Baltic Sea. The result of the Lynetteholm project can have significant, irreversible, negative environmental consequences for the Baltic Sea. Even minimal changes in the water flow into the Baltic Sea may affect the entire marine environment of all the countries around the Baltic Sea.

Regardless of the consultation responses, the ongoing Espoo negotiations with Sweden and the Climate Movement´s lawsuit, the construction of Lynetteholm continues.


Citizens and NGOs actions to stop the project

In 2021, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) called to postpone the the adoption of the Lynetteholm project through a letter sent to the Danish authorities, which was also shared with the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries , as well as with Directors General of respective DG of the European Commission and the Chair of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.


In 2022 Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB) signed another letter, together with other 16 NGOs, to complain to the EU about Lynetteholm blocking water flow.


In 2023 updated information were published about the Lynetteholm project. This document  contains the most updated information including those deliberations that have happened namely that:


  • updates about the Danish Climate Movement´s lawsuit;
  • the report of the 'professional reference group’ set by Transport Agency with four independent professors (Prof. Katarina Elofsson, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University; Prof. Lone Kørnøv, Department of Planning, Aalborg University; Prof. Stiig Markager, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University; Prof. Thorbjørn Joest Andersen, Department of Geosciences and Nature Management, University of Copenhagen) released on 5 March 2023 which states that “blocking effects are cross border and can potentially affect the entire Baltic Sea. One consideration might be to change the design of the project, so that the outermost part does not include Kongedybet”. Individual opinion of Prof. Stiig Markager is i.a. that “the calculations carried out by DHI are not sufficient to reject a significant effect on the salinity in the Baltic Sea. This effect can occur throughout the Baltic Sea and will thus affect all countries around the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, any effect on the stability of the Baltic Sea's water column will produce derivative effects that can accumulate over time and potentially affect salinity beyond the immediate effect on salt transport”. According to Prof. Markager, the implementation of the project in its current state will have significant negative impact on environmental status of the Baltic Sea, hence also constituting a violation of the EU MSFD;
  • the supplemented EIA report for the project changes in the Lynetteholm project was released for public consultation until 8 May 2023;
  • the completion of the Espoo Convention transboundary consultation process is unknown.


In addition, in March 2023 CCB shared its concern to the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) regarding the Lynetteholm project and submitted documents to the Informal consultation session of the Helsinki Commission (IC HELCOM 1-2023). In June 2023 CCB submitted new documents to the Informal consultation session of the Helsinki Commission (IC HOD 3-2023).


The consultation on the Lynetteholm project by all Baltic Sea countries is a legal duty incumbent on Danish authorities. Until all affected countries and organisations are consulted we call to immediately stop the Lynetteholm project. 

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.