News
Copenhagen Showcases Green Solutions in South Africa
27 February 2014
Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen has opened 'The Copenhagen Solutions' exhibit in Cape Town; one of the Danish contributions to Cape Town as World Design Capital 2014, which features a number of Copenhagen’s sustainability initiatives and is open to the public throughout this week.
Download: Copenhagen Solutions - How do we create green growth while improving urban living? (pdf)
The solutions on display cover areas such as cycling, water, combined heat and power and wind power technology have a potential export value for Danish firms:
“South Africa’s economy is growing rapidly, and the country has ambitious goals for reducing CO2 emissions. Copenhagen wants to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city, and in order to achieve that we’ve come up with a number of sustainable urban initiatives, which we think could be implemented in South Africa. This would help Copenhagen firms, it would create jobs in the city and it would help South Africa go green,” says Frank Jensen.
Driving Danish exports to South Africa
The Danish government has set a goal of increasing exports to South Africa by 50% within the next four years. Areas such as green-energy technology and cleantech are expected to provide much of that growth.
“South Africa needs more innovation and more green solutions. There is a lot of potential in using Copenhagen’s established brand to attract South African firms,” says Goodwill Ambassador in South Africa Laura Lykkegaard.
While in South Africa, Lord Mayor Frank Jensen also participated in the C40 Mayors’ Summit in Johannesburg. The C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The summit allows mayors of member cities an opportunity to discuss the challenge of climate change and share possible solutions.
