DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Josefine Movin Østergaard and Johannes Hedegaard, Bruun & Hjejle
4.7 ESG and Climate-Related Coverage While ESG and climate-related coverage disputes remain at an early stage in Denmark, with no signifi- cant published case law specifically addressing such claims, the conditions for increased dispute activity are clearly emerging. On the risk side, climate exposure is becoming finan- cially material. A 2024 white paper by Danske Bank Asset Management, titled Count ( AI ) ng the elephant in the room : Climate and Nature talk in Nordic Earn- ings Calls , analysed over 2,200 Nordic earnings call transcripts from 2019 to 2024 and found that climate- related topics are now mentioned in approximately one-third of earnings calls. A CIP Foundation report underscores the scale of the exposure: Denmark fac- es potential flood damage of DKK400 billion over the next 100 years if climate adaptation is not significantly strengthened. As observed by Danish insurance prac- titioners in November 2025: “Natural disasters, storms and fires – our own nature has also become wilder” (“ Naturkatastrofer , storme og brande – vores egen natur er også blevet vildere ”). Nature-related risks remain underappreciated. The Danske Bank study found that nature topics appear in only about 15% of earnings calls – what it calls “the elephant in the room” – even though 51% of Nordic market value is linked to companies with moderate to high negative impact on nature, and 39% show moderate to high dependency on nature. For insur- ers, companies with significant but undisclosed nature exposure may present underwriting risks that stand- ard policy language does not capture. Insurers are responding through policy design. Dan- ish insurers are introducing ESG-related exclusions in liability policies, particularly for knowingly mislead- ing sustainability claims (greenwashing). Insurers are also assessing whether traditional property coverage adequately addresses physical climate risks, includ- ing increasingly severe flood and storm damage. Two recent cases illustrate these tensions. The Nilfisk case concerned coverage for the destruction of Nilfisk’s American distribution centre following a tornado; in January 2026, the Eastern High Court ruled in favour of the insurer, finding that the master policy’s sub- limit for storm damage applied. The dispute had been
ongoing since October 2022, and Nilfisk has sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Nordic Waste case presents a different dimension of climate- related exposure. Nordic Waste was a Danish soil treatment and recycling company operating a large facility in Ølst, near Randers. In late 2023, a massive landslide occurred at the site, where large quantities of contaminated soil had been stored on a hillside. The landslide caused significant amounts of polluted soil to slide toward Randers Fjord, creating a serious environmental emergency with potential implications for environmental liability and remediation coverage. 4.8 Delegated Authority and Claims Responsibility In Denmark, insurance brokerage is a distinct and reg- ulated profession governed by the Danish Insurance Mediation Act ( Lov om forsikringsformidling ) and the Executive Order on Good Practice for Insurance Dis- tributors ( Bekendtgørelse om god skik for forsikrings- distributører ). The Danish Insurance Mediation Act ( Lov om for- sikringsformidling ) requires that all persons carrying out insurance distribution activities have sufficient competence, and ancillary insurance intermediaries must have appropriate knowledge of the products dis- tributed. Delegated underwriting and claims authority arrangements have been observed in Denmark. The bankruptcies of Gefion Insurance and Alpha Insurance led to disputes over insurance agents’ commissions. The Gefion Insurance case illustrates the risks. In 2019 and 2020, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) issued multiple orders addressing governance, claims handling, and capital adequacy issues aris- ing in part from the company’s extensive reliance on delegated authority arrangements across several EU jurisdictions. The Alpha Insurance liquidation in 2018 likewise highlighted the operational and financial risks faced by an insurer operating across the EU through service provision arrangements. A May 2026 Maritime and Commercial High Court judgment in Ecolog International FZE v Tokio Marine Europe S . A . examined the liability boundaries between a policyholder, an insurer operating through a cover- holder (First Marine), and a freight forwarder (Maersk
94 I NSURANCE L I T IGATI O N 2026
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