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Copenhagen has ambitious plans to be a world leading cleantech city and will target its record civil engineering budget of DKK 11 billion towards green investments over the next three and a half years, reports national daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende. Frank Jensen, the Lord Mayor of the City of Copenhagen, acknowledges that the competition for green jobs is tough globally, with a number of European capitals making green plans. "There is already a general support in the city council to make Copenhagen CO2 neutral by 2025. We now want to combine that objective with the next years' very comprehensive civil engineering projects in order to create international awareness of Copenhagen as a leader in green growth. This, we believe, can create jobs and attract companies and so make Copenhagen a "green valley", which stands for sustainable and green growth," says Frank Jensen.
Image: www.freefoto.com
Copenhagen has ambitious plans to be a world leading cleantech city and will target its record civil engineering budget of DKK 11 billion towards green investments over the next three and a half years, reports national daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende. Frank Jensen, the Lord Mayor of the City of Copenhagen, acknowledges that the competition for green jobs is tough globally, with a number of European capitals making green plans. "There is already a general support in the city council to make Copenhagen CO2 neutral by 2025. We now want to combine that objective with the next years' very comprehensive civil engineering projects in order to create international awareness of Copenhagen as a leader in green growth. This, we believe, can create jobs and attract companies and so make Copenhagen a "green valley", which stands for sustainable and green growth," says Frank Jensen.
Although the UN Climate Change Conference, which Denmark hosted in December 2009, was disappointing in terms of results, Jensen opines that Copenhagen's green image has not been affected. "When I speak to my mayor colleagues around the world, there is no one who blames Copenhagen the fact that the summit ended as it did. On the contrary, there is great curiosity and interest for example in how Copenhagen has managed to create a 97 percent supply rate for district heating. And there is a significant interest in how we will reach the objective of becoming CO2 neutral. We must capitalise on that interest so that we are able to convert the large amounts of goodwill into jobs and growth," says the lord mayor.
The City of Copenhagen is in close dialogue with nearby municipalities and with the municipalities in southern Sweden to encourage them to join the efforts. "We are also ready to invest in match-making between universities, companies and the municipality. Let Copenhagen become the place where new green technology is being developed and tested. That is our clear objective, and we are able to put quite significant sums behind the ambitions," says Jensen. Copenhagen's new green strategy will be launched 29-30 September, when the municipality is hosting Northern Europe's leading cleantech event, World Climate Solutions, which will be a recurring annual event.
Source: Denmark.dk
