As the 2030 EU climate and energy package negotiations come to a climax, the climate and energy minister, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, wants Denmark to send a strong message to the rest of the EU member states.
The Danish demands include a 40 percent CO2 emissions reduction, a 30 percent increase in sustainable energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency. Additionally, the goals should be binding.
"The time to act is upon us and the EU must show global leadership," Petersen said in a press release.
"Denmark will put great pressure on the EU for an ambitious energy and climate policy. The EU goals will show the rest of the world that we believe in a global climate agreement in 2015, and that we would do that best with a strong joint proposal."
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Danish trailblazers
Peteresen is meeting with his EU peers in Milan today to help pave the way for a final agreement that is scheduled to be approved by the EU later on this month.
Aside from contributing to an end to climate change, an ambitious EU agreement will strengthen the energy supply security considerably and reduce the EU's dependency on imported fossil fuels from countries such as Russia.
The climate goals will also cater to the country's energy efficiency and green energy technology companies, which generated record exports of 67.6 billion kroner last year.