Michael de Laine

Denmark’s Hedegaard sees green growth as only affordable growth

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 1st February 2009

Danish minister for climate and energy Connie Hedegaard sees green growth as the only affordable growth, especially at a time of international financial crisis, and business must supply the tools for this.

As the World Economic Forum in Davos draws to a close, Danish minister for climate and energy Connie Hedegaard said, “We, the politicians of the world, have a responsibility to reach a truly global climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009.”

Denmark hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP15 is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012.

“It is the business community that can deliver the tools to turn our vision into reality,” Hedegaard said. “Businesses can provide the clever solutions to make it possible to live in a both modern and sustainable society. Luckily, this is the path that ensures jobs, growth and the answers on how to use the scarce energy resources in a more intelligent manner.

“That is why green growth is the only growth we can afford.”

Earlier last week, Hedegaard was in Bonn in Germany to speak at a conference marking the inauguration of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

On 26th January, 75 countries – a wide palette of industrialised and developing countries – signed the statutes of the agency, which will have task of gathering and disseminating information about renewable energy and advising members countries about the use of renewable energy.

“In the years to come, this institution will be a lighthouse for all of us – developing as well as developed countries,” the Danish minister said. “It will guide us as we go on to investment in renewable energy and energy efficient solutions. It will provide ideas and solutions as we move from the era of climate talks to an era of climate action. And it will bring clarity as we realise that the challenges of the 21st century are inherently interlinked.”

Noting that ‘true international leaders’ reaffirmed their commitment to renewable energy amid the current global financial crisis, Hedegaard added that these leaders “… understand that sustained economic growth goes hand in hand with energy, water and food security. They realise that only by addressing the climate challenge can we afford growth and through that increase our global security and wealth. And true international leaders know that investing in research and development of new renewable energy technologies will help us through the financial crisis.”

At the same time, Hedegaard said, it is very vital that the latest technology for renewable energy is transferred to the developing countries in particular.

Professor Tim Flannery, the chairman of Copenhagen Climate Council and an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, echoed Hedegaard’s words. He said that it is only through bold, unwavering leadership that the challenge posed by climate change can be met.

“Immediate action to address climate change is imperative,” Flannery said. He stressed that he did not mean action that will take effect in the time of our grandchildren, “… but measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now. Our response to the climate crisis will define our generation.”

The global response to our current economic crisis demonstrates that governments can supply decisive and reasoned solutions, he said.

“The message we deliver to policy-makers on the road to Copenhagen in 2009 must be unequivocal: it is only through bold, unwavering leadership that this challenge can be met,” the chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council said.

The Copenhagen Climate Council is an international body of the world’s most renowned scientists, business leaders and diplomats. Their recommendations are delivered directly to the Danish government, which will take them forward to the crucial COP15 climate talks in Copenhagen on 7th-18th December. The Copenhagen Climate Council was founded by Monday Morning (Mandag Morgen), Scandinavia’s biggest leading independent think tank.