After months of scrutiny by the Danish press, Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality in western Jutland has finally revealed the amount paid to former US Vice President Al Gore for his talk on climate last October.
Gore’s environmental presentation cost the local taxpayers 1.3 million kroner.
Significant financial loss
However, the event did not sell very well and the municipality had to fill many of the empty seats in the cultural centre with high school students, ending up with a total loss of 1.46 million kroner.
The municipality contended it did not want to reveal Gore’s honorarium because it was part of the contract with the environmentalist.
Self-sufficient in renewable energy
Hans Blix – the former Swedish foreign affairs minister and head of the UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission – was also invited as a speaker.
His honorarium cost the municipality 149,000 kroner.
The VIP guests debated international energy security as Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality aims to be 100 percent self-sufficient in renewable energy by the end of 2020.
