• NEWS STORY 25. NOVEMBER 201

  Advisory Board of Global Green Growth Forum commits to promote public-private partnerships for green growth 

  
  On 12 October 2011 the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Villy Søvndal, hosted the first meeting of the Partnership Advisory Board for the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF).  Members of the board are prominent representatives of the public-private partnership behind 3GF and include Dr. Soogil Young, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth of the Republic of Korea (co-chair),  Mr. Niels B. Christiansen, CEO of Danfoss (co-chair), Mr. Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary General and, Mr. Chuanfu Wang, President and CEO of BYD Group. To see the full list of board members, click here  

  
  At its first meeting the Advisory Board focused on how to sustain and add to the momentum built through the inaugural Global Green Growth Forum on 11-12 October 2011, and not least on how to continuously enhance the concept of 3GF in order to ensure maximum benefit for global decision-makers and the overall global agenda for green growth. 

  
  The Advisory Board will play an important role going forward in shaping and supporting the Forum on its way to become the leading international venue for public demonstration of leadership and cooperation on green growth by top-level global decision-makers.

  
  The next Advisory Board meeting will take place in the spring of 2012 where the Board will discuss plans for the second Global Green Growth Forum to be held in Copenhagen on 9-10 October 2012. 

• Press statement 12. October 2011
  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark

  Global Green Growth Forum sets paths for ambitious public-private partnerships

  
  The Global Green Growth Forum (3GF), initiated and hosted by the Danish government, positions public-private partnership on the international agenda for green growth.

  
  

  “3GF offers a space for world economic leaders to challenge conventional thinking and find new green avenues to growth. Jointly we can promote the bold decisions which will make all of us winners of tomorrow's green industrial revolution,” says newly elected Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

  
  

  The Forum’s inaugural event was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, 12 Ministers and deputy Ministers, five leaders of UN organizations, 50 global corporate leaders, leading civil society organizations and world leading experts. The 200 participants came from 27 countries across five continents.

  In his keynote speech Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of public-private collaboration, “The green growth agenda can help drive the advancement of sustainable development for the twenty-first century. It is good business – good politics – and good for society.”

  This point was further emphasized by Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Villy Søvndal, “The transition to a green economy will not happen without strong determination on our part. And most importantly, it will not be possible unless governments and the private sector go hand in hand”.

  Energy, transport, trade and finance, key elements of a green industrial revolution, were the focus of the two days. Concrete public-private partnerships were brought to the table, explored and advanced with participants committing to translate insights gained into their own activities going forward. Specific public-private actions were scoped or launched during the Forum in the following areas:

  • Sustainable biofuels for civil aviation
  • Green international trade
  • Global green public procurement
  • Energy efficiency and renewable energy

  Several initiatives will be progressed in international policy processes going forward, including those in energy efficiency, renewable energy and finance leading to the next Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in London, April 2012. The founding government partners, Denmark, Korea and Mexico, committed to support public-private interaction in the next G20 summit hosted by Mexico, and Rio+20 in Brazil.

  
  

  3GF has been developed in association with the Global Green Growth Institute and was formed as a public-private partnership with a number of businesses and international organizations. Progress of 3GF initiatives discussed and advanced this year will be revisited next year, when the second Global Green Forum will be held in Denmark on 9-10 October 2012.

• NEWS STORY - OCTOBER 11, 2011

  Denmark and UN ready to work with business, governments and financiers to deliver global green growth

  October 11, 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark – Today saw the launch of the Global Green Growth Forum with the new Danish Prime Minister, the UN Secretary General, Ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey, and 200 companies.

  The opening session of the conference had the new Prime Minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt speak about the need to develop new ways of making progress and the need for a platform to develop new public-private partnerships.

  “We need change. We need innovation. We need renewed cooperation, across nations and across public and private sectors”. The Danish Prime Minister / Helle Thorning-Schmidt

  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened the inaugural Global Green Growth Forum with a focus on public private partnerships and recommending 3GF as a great platform for this to take place.

  “The United nations is ready to work with governments, businesses and investors to spur green growth”. UN Secretary General / Ban Ki-Moon

  After the opening speeches, delegates were invited to participate in workshop sessions covering renewable energy, energy efficiency, finance, and clean transportation for global green growth. With a view to innovate the international architecture for green growth, outcomes from the Forum will be fed into high-level political processes, negotiations and forums worldwide: G20, UNFCCC COP17, Clean Energy Ministerial, Rio+20 and the annual World Climate Summit, 3-4 December 2011.

  The conference will continue tomorrow with Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Secretary General, and many other distinguished speakers. A press conference will close the inaugural 3GF at 16.15.

  For pictures please visit http://bit.ly/ostuOV
  For twitter please visit http://twitter.com/#!/3_GF
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon speech http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp
  Prime Minister speech http://www.stm.dk/Index/mainstart.asp/_p_13525.html

• Speech by HRH The Crown Prince at Global Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen

  October 11, 2011

  
  
  

  Your Excellencies, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

  
  

  Welcome to Copenhagen and welcome to the Global Green Growth Forum. I am extremely pleased and deeply honored to open this historic event. A lot of skill and hard work has gone into making today’s meeting possible, and the impressive number of heads of governments, ministers and high-level participants present here today is a clear reflection of the fact that the Global Green Growth Forum (in short: 3GF) holds enormous promise for the world at large.

  
  

  We must now acknowledge that the continued economic growth created by the industrialists, businessmen and craftsmen of the past is no longer automatically sustainable.

  
  

  Climate changes, scarce resources and a world population that continues to grow, makes it unsustainable to continue business as usual. In fact, according to the UN, world citizen number 7 billion will be born in China two months from now, and by the year 2050 we will be more than 9 billion people in the world.

  
  

  As a consequence, we need to work towards independence from fossil fuels, because they will eventually run out. But reducing our dependence on oil, gas and coal, requires us to develop an extensive framework for the use of alternative energy sources.

  To achieve this goal the public and the private sectors must join forces to promote these alternatives. With the latest technologies at hand, it is up to the governments and businesses to convert research and development into sustainable solutions.

  
  

  With the Global Green Growth Forum Mexico, South Korea and Denmark have come together and teamed up with an extensive network of business partners and international organisations. Our common objective is to create the grounds for multiple partnerships that are capable of seizing the growth potential of a green economy.

  
  
  

  Gathering the skills of the business community, the ambitions of civil society, the knowledge of the research community and the abilities of governments, we can find effective solutions and acquire the necessary ideas for a joint action on green growth.

  
  

  Here in Moltkes Palace all that remains of the original construction are the cellar vaults.

  
  

  Now, we need to make sure that the cellar vaults upon which human civilisation is constructed – are maintained and preserved for future generations. We can only do this if we forge a new industrial revolution leading to a greener economy.

  
  Ladies and Gentlemen - it fills me with great pride and with a strong hope for the future to open this inaugural meeting of the Global Green Growth Forum. May your days in Copenhagen be productive and may we all in due course come to remember this event as a key turning point towards a greener and more sustainable future.

  
  

  Thank you.

• Statsminister Helle Thorning-Schmidts tale ved åbningen af Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) i Moltkes Palæ, tirsdag den 11. oktober 2011 (Talen er på engelsk)

  Speech delivered by Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) at Moltkes Palae, Tuesday 11 October 2011

  Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Distinguished Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

  The Global Green Growth Forum seeks to develop new ways of making progress on some of the most critical challenges facing our world today. I am proud that Denmark is hosting this important event.

  Eight days ago, my government assumed office. We have put green growth at the very top of our priorities. But we also know that our current path will not take us there. We need change. We need innovation. We need renewed cooperation, across nations and across public and private sectors.

  That is why Denmark has launched this forum. It is my ambition that 3GF will become an important part of a new international architecture to address what the UN Secretary General rightly has called the imperative of the 21st century: Ensuring sustainable development.

  We must save our planet in the face of scarce resources. We must lift people out of poverty. We must advance economic growth.

  I would like to thank each and every one of you for attending this meeting. I would also like to warmly thank our partners in this initiative. 3GF is a truly joint effort with the Governments of Mexico and Korea as well as important actors from the private sector, international organizations and elsewhere.

  Thanks to all of you for this partnership.

  ***

  To effectively drive the green revolution – and I call it a green revolution - we need to make progress in three areas:

  Firstly, the green transition requires international leadership:

  The United Nations must be the overarching framework for our efforts. Achieving progress in the global negotiations, particularly on a climate change deal, will be an important priority of this government as well.

  We will work for a successful outcome at the COP17 later this year. And of course we will work for an ambitious outcome in Rio next summer. And the green agenda will of course also be a priority when Denmark takes over the EU Presidency next year.

  Secondly, each nation has a responsibility to move the green transition forward at home:

  This country, Denmark, has a long-standing tradition in energy efficiency and green solutions. My government will raise the bar even further. We will set the ambitious goal that our entire electricity and heat supply must come from sustainable energy in 2035.

  Setting this clear and long-term target is a crucial precondition for action.

  Why?

  Because long-term targets tell our power plants that they can safely focus on green energy. Because long-term targets tell the director of a wind turbine company that it is safe to invest in new markets. And because long-term targets tell families that it is worth their while to buy energy-saving windows or an electric car.

  But we also need to understand that the green development will not come by itself. Let me be extremely clear about this: We must be prepared to make tough decisions. This is not a simple win-win proposition. Some parts of our society will be affected negatively by the steps we need to take to reach these objectives. We need to make this very clear.

  A green development requires substantial investments in tomorrow’s green technologies and solutions – this will not be without costs in the short run. But I firmly believe that in the long run inaction will be even more costly to all of us. So no action will cost us.

  Thirdly, governments need to drive the green transition in much closer partnership with the private sector:

  We have heard the green words before. The task now is to translate green words into green action.

  We need to work with our industries and businesses to find smart solutions, develop intelligent regulatory frameworks and set priorities in research and development.

  In short, close public-private partnership is critical to achieving our goals. Let me provide a few examples:

  In Denmark we have a test centre for wind turbines in Østerild. This is a case where the government, in cooperation with the wind turbine industry and the research community, has actually created a world-class test center. We need more of that.

  Another example is a new alliance between Danish Pension Funds and Danish energy companies which provides capital for the necessary investments in future renewable energy. This has helped create an off-shore wind farm that covers 400.000 households’ consumption of electricity. Another good example of private-public partnership.

  And on a Danish island in the Baltic Sea – Bornholm – a full scale project is being developed to establish a smart grid, building on renewables. Through this project, more than 50 percent of the power system is covered by renewables. That is surely the way forward!

  But we also need to be active abroad. And this country, Denmark, is active abroad. In Malaysia, Clean Development Mechanism-programmes have helped initiate more than 30 biogas-projects in less than 6 years. And in Bangladesh, the World Bank, local entrepreneurs and the Danish Government have helped establish new energy efficient brick producing factories – a project that both helps reduce emissions and sets new standards for working conditions, health and safety.

  All over the world the key to green growth lies in cooperation and innovative thinking.

  ***

  To truly realize the potential for green growth, we must make these partnerships beyond individual countries and beyond regions. There are plenty of businesses, investors, innovators and researchers around the world ready to be part of the green transition. But what we need to do is to bring them together around the same table, along with the regulators and decision-makers.

  The Global Green Growth Forum offers just that: A platform for developing such international public-partnerships. We want to promote a frank and confidential dialogue between business leaders, investors and policy makers on green growth and on everything that this entails.

  I challenge you to spend these two days finding concrete answers and solutions to the problems and barriers to progress in our field. My pledge to you is that the Danish Government, along with our partners, will work tirelessly to ensure that the ideas and recommendations from 3GF are carried forward: in the United Nations, in the G20 and elsewhere.

  And also we know that we’ll meet again. And we even know where and when. I am happy to announce that the next Global Green Growth Forum will take place the same time next year.

  I wish you all a fruitful and productive conversation over the coming days!

  Thank you.

• Copenhagen, 11 October 2011

  UNITED NATIONS

  THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

  REMARKS TO THE GLOBAL GREEN GROWTH FORUM

  “CAN GROWTH BE GREEN? THE UNITED NATIONS IN THE GREEN ECONOMY”

  STRICTLY EMBARGOED - CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

  Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark,
  Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt,
  Excellencies,
  Distinguished delegates,
  Ladies and Gentlemen,

  I am extremely pleased to be here.

  Sustainable development is the imperative of the twenty-first century.

  Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “It is better to light a single candle than to curse the dark.”

  She was absolutely right. But now we need to think of new ways to bring light into darkness.

  We need a different path. A sustainable path.

  This is my message to leaders around the world.

  And that is why we are here today.

  This 3G Forum comes at a crucial time.

  We are racing to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

  We are preparing for next year’s Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

  And we are coping every day with global threats to lives and livelihoods.

  The three Gs of Global Green Growth must respond to social, economic and environmental challenges equally.

  Because we live in an era of three Fs: crises on Food, Fuel and Finance.

  So we need to enhance the three Es: the Economy, the Environment and global Equity.

  This month, the seven billionth citizen of our planet will be born.

  We have to do more than sing, “Happy birthday.” We have to give this child – and its whole generation – a sustainable future.

  We have to embrace sustainable agriculture so she has enough food to eat.

  We have to expand clean energy so that he can reap the benefits of modern productivity without suffering the drawbacks of climate change.

  And we have to ensure greater opportunities and decent jobs so that people can enjoy lives of dignity and fulfilment.

  The old economic models are not working for the countries and companies that embraced them.

  New models show tremendous promise. I have seen examples around the world.

  Prime Minister Meles, I saw Ethiopia is driving a low-carbon pathway by expanding hydropower and clean cooking solutions.

  President Odinga, I have seen in Kenya how geothermal, wind and solar power are driving progress.

  I launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative because energy access, efficiency and clean energy are essential to building a healthier and more prosperous world.

  On the one hand, 20 per cent of all people on earth lack basic electricity services. Nearly 3 billion people burn biomass.

  On the other hand, far too many people rely on depletable energy sources – and use them unsustainably.

  This world of plenty and poverty cannot be sustained.

  We need to marshal all forces to power progress in a way that protects our planet and promotes the welfare of all people.

  We need to come together – rich and poor.

  We need CEOs, investors, utility companies and renewable energy businesses. Government officials and research scientists.

  We need bold and bankable solutions.

  With that kind of action … with that kind of energy … we can realize our vision for 2030.

  A world where all people have modern energy services. … where we double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency… and where we double the share of renewable energy in the global mix.

  There are excellent examples of progress in Denmark, Mexico and Korea – the three countries that helped make this Forum possible.

  The Danish company Maersk is designing the world’s most efficient container ships – they cut carbon emissions by half.

  The Eurus wind farm in Oaxaca [“wa-HA-ka”] Mexico will supply one quarter of the country’s energy needs.

  In Korea, LG Electronics has announced plans to invest $7 billion in electric car batteries, LED lighting, solar panels and other green technologies that can create 10,000 jobs.

  I appreciate this engagement. But my message to all countries is the same: we need to do more.

  Next year’s Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development provides an opportunity for tangible results.

  This Global Green Growth Forum can help pave the way for success in Rio.

  And you can start today.

  I encourage you to address difficult issues.

  There are those who fear green growth can lead to trade barriers… and ‘green’ aid conditionality.

  You also have to consider entrenched interests that may resist progress, claiming that sustainability is a luxury we cannot afford.

  The opposite is true: that depleting our natural resources will actually deplete our chances of true prosperity.

  Guiding the world toward green growth, however, will lead to substantial gains and benefit the majority of humanity and our shared planet.

  This Forum should be a chance for thoughtful reflection – and also determined action.

  Make plans. Form alliances. Commit to engagement long after we leave Copenhagen.

  Together, we can generate a clean energy transformation, set the world on course for low-carbon growth, and create conditions for a truly sustainable future.

  That is why I have made sustainable development my top priority.

  The green growth agenda can help drive the advancement of sustainable development for the twenty-first century. It is good business – good politics – and good for society.

  The sustainable development agenda provides a compelling model for generating prosperity on a planet under multiple pressures: climate change, species loss, desertification and pollution.

  At Rio, our vision must be clear: we need to move quickly toward a sustainable economy that is equitable and inclusive.

  Excellencies,

  Ladies and gentlemen,

  The late Wangari Maathai had many titles in her life, including Member of Parliament, Nobel Laureate and United Nations Messenger of Peace.

  Wangari Maathai understood green growth from the perspective of the world’s poor.

  She said, “Poor people will cut the last tree to cook the last meal. The more you degrade the environment, the more you dig deeper into poverty.”

  The global movement for sustainable development is about more than economic growth and environmental protection. It is about providing a life of dignity for all people, so that instead of digging deeper into poverty, they can build toward greater levels of prosperity.

  I count on you to help power this movement for a sustainable future.

  Thank you.

• Denmark's new Prime Minister Launches Global Green Growth Forum with 200 World Leaders

• October 11, 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark
  
  
• The new Prime Minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, is leading a new initiative called the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) convening 200 world leaders from business, finance and government to spur the global economy in a green and prosperous way.
  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will open the inaugural Global Green Growth Forum at Moltkes Palæ in Copenhagen, 11-12 October. It will focus on key areas of energy and transport, cutting across the pertinent themes of finance, regulatory frameworks and international markets. Global Green Growth Forum is an initiative of the Danish Government in partnership with the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Mexico, and developed in association with the Global Green Growth Institute, based in South Korea.
  “3GF offers a space for world economic leaders to challenge conventional thinking and find new green avenues to growth. Green growth has to be at the core of a sustainabl strategy to get us out of the economic crisis. To advance this global agenda, Denmark as well as other countries actively engaged in the green transition must take the lead, in close partnership with visionary companies and investors. Together, we can foster the
  bold decisions necessary to make all of us winners of tomorrow's green industrialrevolution. This is our common responsibility”.
  The Danish Prime Minister / Helle Thorning-SchmidtHigh-level participants include: UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon; EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard; UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres; Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga; Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi; Ministers from Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey; UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner; OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría; Chairman of the Board, Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmanthe.
  With a view to innovate the international architecture for green growth, outcomes from the Forum will be fed into high-level political processes, negotiations and forums worldwide: G20, UNFCCC COP17, Clean Energy
  Ministerial, Rio+20 and the annual World Climate Summit, 3-4 December 2011.
  About the Global Green Growth Forum:
  The annual Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) is the high-level public-private partnership that brings
  together 200 invited global leaders from government, business, finance and civil society to collectively spur
  green growth and design the architecture for a green economy.
  The exclusive Forum, to be held annually in Denmark, will provide an  interactive arena for industry and government leaders to develop ideas and opportunities for joint action and enable strategic and practical
  learning across sectors, countries and projects at a national and international level. In addition, 3GF will both showcase and help catalyze public-private initiatives that accelerate green growth at scale as well as
  instigate creative, solution-oriented, thinking and action on overcoming key barriers.
  The Forum is supported by a range of private and institutional partners including: ABB, BYD Group, Danfoss, General Electric, Hyundai Motors Company, McKinsey & Company, Novozymes, Samsung, Siemens,
  Vestas, Global Green Growth Institute, OECD, The International Energy Agency (IEA), UN Global Compact International Finance Corporation (IFC) and The Climate Policy Initiative.
  For more information on 3GF please contact the 3GF Secretariat on:
  +45 33 92 00 61 / [email protected] or visit www.globalgreengrowthforum.com

• New high-profile participants confirmed for 3GF

1st October

New participants are continuously signing up for 3GF, all contributing to making 3GF a unique event that builds bridges between business, technology, capital and policy. Among our new participants to the Forum are: UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development, Erik Solheim; CNTG Energies CEO, Eleanor Chan; African Centre for Economic Transformation Founder and President, K.Y. Amoaka and International Finance Corporation Vice President, Nena Stoiljkovic. 

 

They will be joining a host of high-level participants such as Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga; Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's Minister of Water and Irrigation, Mohammad Al-Najjar; EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard; UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres; UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner; OECD Secretary General, Angel Gurría; Chairman of the Board at Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe; Hyundai Vice Chairman, Woong-Chul Yang; Executive Vice President of Samsung C & T Corporation, Keung Hwan Kim; Solena Group CEO, Mr Robert T Do; Better Place CEO, Mr Shai Agassi; GreenTech Automotives CEO, Mr Charles Wang;Huawei CEO, Mr Ren Zhengfei;  Shenzhen BAK Battery Vice President & CTO, Mr Deng Zhongyi; ESKOM CEO, Mr Brian Dames; ;Danfoss CEO, Niels B. Christiansen; and Vestas CEO, Ditlev Engel. H.R.H The Crown Prince of Denmark, a long time advocate of green solutions at both domestic and global levels, has also confirmed his participation at the 3GF.

 




• Outcomes The EU trio presidencies: Working together for green growth

   

  Poland and Denmark, as part of the EU trio presidency 2011-12, are working jointly to strengthen the green growth agenda and contribute to the global objective of sustainable development, in accordance with the trio presidency programme.

   

  Parallel to 3GF in Copenhagen, Poland in its capacity of the Presidency of the European Union, is organizing on 11-12 October in Warsaw a conference “Sharing Green Economy Best Practices towards Rio+20”, which shall serve as a platform for high-level consultations between the EU and key selected countries to the process in the run-up to the Rio+20 conference in 2012. The two events address complementary perspectives of green growth, and the Polish EU presidency and the incoming Danish EU Presidency will work jointly to follow up on the mutually reinforcing messages from the events.

   




• Danish elections in September, strong global focus on green growth on 3GF in October 

• 15th September
• 
  

  Danish elections will be held today, 15 September and a new government is expected to take office well ahead of the Forum. However, the domestic political process in Denmark will have no influence on 3GF on 11-12 October. The Forum will keep a strong global focus on green growth across borders and involve participants from all continents.

• 3GF outcomes to be fed into the third meeting of the Clean Energy Ministerial

• 19th August 2011

• 3GF is coordinating with the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)* and the World Economic Forum to strengthen public-private collaboration on clean energy as an important component of green growth. Selected outcomes and recommendations from the 3GF sessions will flow into the third meeting of the CEM in London in April 2012, as well as its related initiatives, which will in turn help to inform the strategic focus of 3GF 2012.

• Key recommendations for realizing long-term green growth established at 3GF will be fed into a variety of high-level political processes, negotiations and forums at national and international level, including the EU’s green growth agenda, UNFCCC COP 17, Rio +20, the G20.

• *The CEM is a global forum that brings together clean energy leaders from economies representing more than 90 percent of global clean energy investment. Through high-level policy dialogue among energy ministers, working-level cooperation to drive progress across a variety of clean energy fields, and engagement with the private-sector, the CEM aims to accelerate the transition to clean energy technologies.

• Korea and Denmark join hands in Global Green Growth Initiative

  Cancun, 8 December 2010
  
  

  Today the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Dr. Lykke Friis, met with the representatives from the Korean government, including Minister of Environment Lee Maanee, Secretary to the President for Green Growth and Environment Kim Sang-hyup, and Ambassador for Climate Change Shin Yeon-sung, and vowed to join efforts in promoting global green growth.
  
  

  Danish support for the Global Green Growth Institute

  Speaking on behalf of the Danish government, Dr. Lykke Friis pledged Danish support to the Global Green Growth Institute headquartered from Seoul. The Global Green Growth Institute, which was launched by President Lee Myung-bak during COP15 in Copenhagen, has been established to support the creation and diffusion of a new model of green growth that integrates objectives for poverty reduction, job opportunity creation, and social development, with objectives for environmental sustainability and climate and energy security. Part of the Danish support to GGGI will be focused on securing these goals via transition of the energy sectors in developing countries towards more renewable energy production and higher energy efficiency performance.
  
  

  Since the poorest countries are the most vulnerable to climate change due to the lack of resources, the Danish Ministers for Development Cooperation and Climate and Energy have decided that the contribution will be targeting activities not least in this group of countries. A specific focus of the Danish funding, which is part of Denmark’s fast- start-financing to combat climate change, will be the energy and transportation sectors - areas of the economy which are directly related to climate change issues. The purpose is to facilitate developing countries’ transition to green growth through sharing best-practices within efficient and confirmable mitigation and adaptation plans. Beyond the financial contribution Danish ministries involved will also allocate in-house expertise to GGGI. Subject to final parliamentary approval, Denmark will provide 5 million USD a year through Danish development assistance and the Danish Climate Envelope for fast-start finance to the Global Green Growth Institute over a three year period.
  
  

  Secretary Kim Sang-hyup warmly welcomed the decision of Denmark to support the Global Green Growth Institute as the first donor and announced that, in order to fully utilize the Danish competencies on emission reductions and energy efficiency, a regional office of the Institute will be established in Copenhagen.
  
  

  Korean support to Danish government initiative on global green growth

  Secretary Kim Sang-hyup also announced the Korean government’s commitment to develop a strategic partnership on green growth with the Danish government in its endeavour to create a leading international platform for dialogue and cooperation on this issue.
  
  

  This new business and growth oriented initiative aims to bridge the gap between policy, capital, and business by bringing the main strategic global stakeholders together to collectively find viable solutions and produce actionable, relevant and tangible outcomes to accelerate the transition to a green global economy.
  
  

  A part of this initiative consists of engaging main global enterprises and investors in partnerships, including businesses from Korea and Denmark to develop cutting edge analyses, policy proposals and possible solutions within sectors such as energy, transportation and water and agriculture.
  
  

  Minister Lykke Friis sincerely welcomed Korea as a partner in the Danish government initiative launched jointly by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economic and Business Affairs and Climate and Energy. She expressed hope that the green partnership between Denmark and Korea could be further expanded in the years to come
  
  

  Representing the Global Green Growth Institute, Lord Nicholas Stern, Vice-Chair of the Board, emphasised that the Korean-Danish partnership will be a powerful message to other governments, both from the developed and developing world, beckoning them to join global green growth, which he referred to as the second industrial revolution.