Statsminister Mette Frederiksens tale ved Leaders Summit on Climate den 23. april 2021

Det talte ord gælder

Mr President.

Excellencies.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Imagine you’re flying across the North Sea.

Hundreds of wind turbines appear on the horizon.

As you get closer, you spot an island.

An island creating clean electricity.

Clean fuels.

Green innovation. For millions of European households.

That’s our Danish vision of the world’s first energy island.

And it’s not just something to imagine. Denmark will soon make it a reality.

Already today, almost fifty percent of Denmark’s electricity is powered by wind.

And we have plans to build even more.

Up next is turning green electricity into green fuels.

This will solve major challenges for all of us: Emissions from trucks, planes, and ships.

And it will also create a lot of new jobs. Plenty of green jobs. Offshore. Onshore. In ports. In test and research facilities. In industry.

We will leave no one behind.

In just two years, the world’s leading container shipping company, Mærsk, will launch its first carbon-neutral container ship.

As governments, we should support this.

That’s what Denmark aims to do with the new Mission Innovation on Shipping – in close collaboration with the US.

Denmark also supports the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate. This is another area where we need to increase research and development.

Taking the next steps in innovation will not be easy.

But I am confident we can do it.

Why? Because we have done it before.

Denmark turned our largest fossil power company into the world’s most sustainable energy company – Ørsted.

We have decided to end all Danish oil and gas production in the North Sea by 2050.

Today, Denmark has more jobs in green energy than in fossils.

And the private sector is on board.

We have formed climate partnerships with all parts of Danish business.

All of Denmark is now united in reaching our target – a 70 percent cut in emissions by 2030.

Thank you, President Biden, for bringing the United States back into the Paris Agreement.

Let us continue our shared journey into a greener and more sustainable future.

I can assure you that we in Denmark stand ready to do our part.