Consul General Discussed Transition to Alternative Energy at C3 Summit

Friday, September 14, the Consul General of Denmark in New York, Ambassador Jarl Frijs-Madsen participated in the C3 Summit in New York, where he was part of a panel debating ”How to determine the impact of alternative energy on future fossil supplies.”

The Consul General among other topics spoke about Denmark's national energy strategy:

“The Danish Government has with a large majority in the parliament decided this year to set what is probably the most ambitious clean energy strategy for any country in the world: To become fossile free by 2050," said the Consul General during the debate. "It means a lot of new technologies will be implemented in Denmark and a lot of green jobs will be created."

Transition to alternative energy
The Consul General was invited to the summit by the World Chamber of Commerce to contribute to the discussion of how we prepare ourselves for the eventual depletion of our fossil fuels reserves and the necessary transition to alternative energy sources:

“In Denmark we recognise that the government plays a role in promoting renewables. If it was up to market alone it would be difficult . So it is a policy choice and it is based on regulation for energy and subsidies for renewables including research," said the Consul General and continued: "But does this mean that there is not a business case for developing renewables? Certainly not. Just look at Silicon Valley and all the capital that is pouring into clean energy ventures.”
 

 
Consul General, Ambassador Jarl Frijs-Madsen in the middle. Also in the panel were Dan Nelson, David Pursell, Peter Gish, Scott Anderson and Mark Fulton.
Photo: Clara Therese Zeller

The C3 Summit assembled business leaders, policy makers, educators and civil society members to focus on collaboration and international commerce between the U.S. and the Arab world.

Among the featured speakers at the C3 Summit was former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, who has often singled out Denmark as a pioneer country on climate and energy. Likewise, President Obama has spoken of Denmark as, ”a leader of clean energy and alternative energy." Premier of Bermuda, Paula Cox and CEO of Apple, Tim Cook headlined the prominent speakers list together with Bill Clinton.