WWF to give Denmark climate award

Environmental organisation recognises country’s ambition to develop a sustainable society that also secures economic growth and welfare

Environmental organisation WWF will honour the Danish government for its ambitious energy and climate targets and its long tradition of implementing renewable energy policies.

WWF will hand over the Gift of the Earth prize on Monday to recognise the country’s goal to transition completely to renewable energy sources by 2050.

“Denmark has shown that it is possible to develop a sustainable society while also securing economic growth and welfare,” Jim Leape, the WWF secretary general, said.

Renewable energy leader
While there is still a lot of progress to be made in the transport industry, Denmark’s focus on renewable energy since the 1980s helped it produce 41.7 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in 2012.

WWF also pointed out that Denmark has managed to do more with less by increasing GDP by 39 percent between 1990 and 2001 while also reducing energy consumption by one percent.

READ MORE: Climate minister sets roadmap for new global climate deal

“Since the [1970s] oil crisis, Denmark started a tradition of securing broad political support for energy policies with a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy,” Gitte Seeberg, secretary general of WWF Denmark stated in a press release.

Green growth
“I hope that all parties will continue to support these ambitious efforts because it’s important. Not just in Denmark, but globally.”

The prize will be handed over to PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemokraterne) on Monday at the Green Growth Forum, which is being held in Copenhagen.

The annual conference draws governments, businesses, investors and international organisations to find ways to promote green growth and sustainable development.




  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.


  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.