The state visit of King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark to Australia, which started last Saturday, is an important opportunity to advance the bilateral partnership and address emerging strategic, technological and climate challenges.
After navigating the Greenland crisis, Denmark is uniquely positioned to assist partners reading the room in the White House. Yet, the business delegation accompanying the royals—the largest in recent years—intends to share other lessons: namely those of a nation that has paired ambitious climate action with technological competitiveness and sustained economic growth.
Denmark’s green transition is central to its international identity and economic strategy. With a legislated target to reduce emissions by 70 percent by 2030 (relative to 1990 levels) and to reach climate neutrality by 2045, Denmark is the most ambitious industrialised nation on climate policy. Crucially, these targets enjoy broad bipartisan support, giving industry the regulatory certainty needed to invest in long‑term transformation.
The result is a thriving green‑technology sector, particularly in offshore wind, energy efficiency and grid integration. Green exports now account for around 10 percent of Denmark’s total exports, and Danish pension funds and venture capital firms are actively seeking renewable‑energy investments globally, including in Australia.
For Australia, Denmark’s experience matters. Balancing sovereign technological capability, economic growth and climate action sit at the heart of Australia’s Future Made in Australia initiative, yet achieving broad domestic consensus has proven difficult.
Internationally, Denmark’s climate experience is also instrumental to Australia’s success. Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is chairing this year’s global climate negotiations. Since last year’s climate summit delivered only modest progress, and with the US federal government stepping back from multilateral climate diplomacy, Australia faces the challenge of reinvigorating global momentum. A reframing of climate action as a driver of competitiveness and innovation during pre‑summit meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu could be both persuasive and timely.
But the Australia–Denmark relationship extends well beyond climate and energy. The 2023 strategic partnership agreement signed by prime ministers Mette Frederiksen and Anthony Albanese identifies peace, security, and critical and emerging technologies as priority areas for cooperation.
Tensions with the United States over Greenland have placed Denmark in an uncomfortable geopolitical spotlight. Despite being one of Washington’s closest allies, Denmark has had to assert its sovereignty firmly. It earned Frederiksen great respect among European partners, and popular support at home. Australia ultimately aligned with Denmark’s closest European allies in affirming that ‘Greenland’s future is a matter for Denmark and the people of Greenland’.
Yet Greenland’s strategic significance is only growing. A 2023 geological survey found that 25 of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the European Commission are present in Greenland. As Arctic ice continues to melt, access to these resources—though still technically challenging—will become increasingly feasible. But Greenland aims to develop these resources under strict environmental conditions. For Australia, which has a strong interest in global critical‑minerals supply chains and responsible mining practices as well as monitoring great‑power competition in the Arctic, closer coordination and intelligence exchange with Denmark offers clear benefits.
The most dynamic area of bilateral cooperation lies in emerging technologies. For several years, Denmark’s tech ambassador and Australia’s ambassador for cyber and critical technology have shepherded a group of like‑minded nations to engage US-based major technology companies on issues including data governance and platform accountability. Quantum technology has become a particular area of strength. Australia and Denmark are both members of the Quantum Development Network—an initially US-facilitated group of 12 nations that coordinate their approaches to quantum development.
But the connection goes deeper. ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker shows that Australian and Danish researchers co‑authored nearly 80 peer‑reviewed publications between 2020 and 2025, involving leading institutions such as the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, the University of Copenhagen as well as Australian company PsiQuantum. A major Australian Research Council grant awarded in late 2025 to establish the Centre for Quantum Computer Performance and Integration at UNSW counts the University of Copenhagen as a partner.
The University of Queensland’s longstanding collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark—including exchanges of researchers and a PhD co‑supervision agreement—has driven advances in quantum sensing, communication and engineering. These academic partnerships are now extending into industry, with Australian institutions seeking deeper engagement with emerging Danish quantum companies such as Sparrow Quantum.
The cultural and diplomatic aspects of a royal State visit will attract most of public attention. But officials and parliamentarians (including federal, state and territory governments), Australian industry leaders and civil society who’ll have the chance to engage the Danish delegation should do so with an open mindedness that can advance shared interest in technological competitiveness, secure supply chains, and cooperation with trusted, like‑minded states—and through that, strengthen collective climate leadership.
This article was informed by insights gained from a media trip organised and funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry.