Green research

Climate change calls for many types of knowledge. We need insight into complex climate systems – and into soil, water, oceans, ice and air. We also need technologies that can capture and convert CO2 into new products and fuels, for example, through CO2 capture and power-to-X. At the same time, we need knowledge of how to shape policy, legislation, and the economy, and how to promote new behaviour and demand that benefit the climate. At the University of Copenhagen, we conduct climate research across all these disciplines, not least in Arctic research.

The crisis facing nature, biodiversity and the environment calls for a wide range of expertise. In our research at the University of Copenhagen, we seek to understand life on Earth and the fundamental mechanisms behind it – from the smallest organisms, chemistry and genetics to complex ecosystems and evolution. At the same time, we focus on future solutions to advance nature, biodiversity and the environment with less pollution and fewer hazardous substances. And we investigate how we can improve nature management, landscape planning and land use.

The food and agriculture sector is facing a significant transition. At the University of Copenhagen, we conduct research in both areas across the entire value chain: from the design and development of crops to the production of healthy, tasty, climate-friendly and high-quality food, to a change in consumption, behaviour and demand patterns. At the same time, we conduct research into animal welfare and the sustainable transition of animal production. The growing field of biosolutions is particularly relevant here. Biosolutions are sustainable, biological solutions based on nature's own tools. With biosolutions, we focus on developing entirely new foods and ingredients, as well as new forms of plant protection.

A sustainable future requires us to rethink our infrastructure and frameworks. At the University of Copenhagen, we conduct interdisciplinary research into how we can understand and rethink politics and legislation, trade and the economy, and consumption and demand to create a sustainable future. We are particularly focused on civil society, culture and social movements. And on how we can use technology and data, including in the social sciences, to further the sustainable transition.

Changes in climate, nature and the environment challenge our health. They increase the need to understand new disease patterns and threats to our health. At the University of Copenhagen, we focus on enhancing knowledge about prevention, disease and health in relation to the pressure on our climate, nature and environment. At the same time, we seek to uncover new potential. This enables us, for example, to develop new medicines with a lower climate footprint and to boost nutrition and physical health with new foods. It also allows us to create new, closer relationships with nature for the benefit of our mental health, among other things.

The green transition requires major changes to the way we live and consume. That is why we at the University of Copenhagen investigate how social practices, communities, and perceptions influence the green transition – also from cultural, artistic, media and communication perspectives. Several of our research environments work with key social issues concerning ethics and our relationship with nature, animals and the environment – as well as climate justice, equality and participation in the green transition.

Climate, nature and the environment are global crises. At the University of Copenhagen, interdisciplinary research environments work on climate change and adaptation, forests and nature, and health and medicine in the Global South. Our research is primarily in Africa, South America and Asia, where a key theme is strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability. Cities have a key role as drivers of the green transition. That is why we conduct research into urban development and ecology, as well as planning and design that can support a sustainable future.

The humanities provide a deeper understanding of human beings and the role of our values, practices and everyday behaviour in the sustainability of society.

Learn more about sustainable human behaviour at Environmental Humanities

The legal sciences provide knowledge about how legislation and regulation can support sustainable development – at local, national, EU and international levels.

Read about legal research into sustainability at The Sustainability Hub

The natural and biological sciences explore climate, nature and the environment – and how we can develop the food and agricultural sectors with a focus on sustainable solutions.

• Read about sustainability research at the Faculty of Science
• Learn how the Natural History Museum of Denmark works with sustainability

The social sciences analyse the interactions among politics, democracy, the economy, and civil society – and how these interactions can create frameworks and solutions that support sustainable development.

Read about climate and sustainability at the Faculty of Social Sciences

The health and medical sciences contribute knowledge about health, disease, genetics and life sciences (life and biological processes) – all of which are important for a sustainable future.

Read news about climate and sustainability from the Faculty of Health Sciences

The theological sciences examine how faith, ethics and values can contribute to sustainability. One way is through eco-ethical and eco-theological perspectives, for example, with a focus on development in Africa.