Denmark’s former prime minister and current head of the embattled Venstre party has announced he will step down as chairman of the South Korea-based climate organisation GGGI.
Rasmussen said he was stepping down in order to focus his efforts on Venstre. The party has nosedived in the polls recently due to a string of scandals involving Rasmussen.
“We have a parliamentary election around the corner and I will focus all my efforts on the national political agenda,” Rasmussen said in a Venstre press release.
GGGI has been under heavy fire since it emerged late last year that Rasmussen had spent 770,000 kroner on first-class flights as the chairman of climate organisation GGGI, which is funded with 90 million kroner of Danish taxpayer funds.
READ MORE: Development minister takes the fall for 'Luxury' Lars's travels
Gone with September
But despite the scandal – which led to Christian Friis Bach stepping down as Denmark’s minister for trade and development – Rasmussen claims that he’ll leave the organisation in a solid shape.
“Much has been written about GGGI, but I leave a stronger and more solid organisation that has improved financially, which has the potential to play a deciding role in generating progress in the global co-ordinated efforts against climate change,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen, who has acted as the GGGI chairman since June 2012, will officially stop in connection with the UN Climate Meeting in September, where GGGI will also reveal his successor.
