Both France and Denmark have previously emphasised the need for more ambitious climate policies and the clock is ticking. There is an urgent need to act and to cooperate to solve global problems.

Therefore, France and Denmark signed a cooperation agreement yesterday on energy and climate issues. The agreement intends to focus and strengthen the countries' bilateral cooperation in order to achieve more ambitious climate policies both in Europe and abroad.

“Denmark and France have a strong working relationship and a good, shared understanding of climate challenges and the necessity of transitioning to greener societies. The new agreement intensifies our cooperation in an area where there is a need for international action and leadership. I am very pleased that together, we can set an example on how to achieve the Paris Agreement’s objectives,” says Lars Chr. Lilleholt, the Danish Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate.

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Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs, is also pleased about the agreement:
“If the Paris Agreement’s objectives are to be fulfilled, it is essential to engage the private sector and to ensure that investments are made on a global scale in green solutions. In Denmark, we have a strong track record of using development aid to mobilise both public and private financing for climate friendly projects. Simultaneously, many Danish companies have concrete solutions to offer. Therefore, it is both important and very natural that we, in cooperation with a close partner such as France, will continue to promote this agenda on a global level,” Minister Tørnæs stated.

The agreement was signed on Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at the Royal Danish Playhouse by Denmark’s Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate, Lars Chr. Lilleholt and France’s Minister for Europe, Nathalie Loiseau.

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Details of the agreement
Central elements of the cooperation are:

• Shared Danish-French global leadership within the mobilisation of investments and financing of the climate and energy transition.
• Closer Danish-French cooperation on energy solutions such as energy efficiency and CO2 reductions in the transport sector.
• Strengthened cooperation on climate issues in the European Union, including strengthening the EU’s contribution to the Paris Agreement before 2020, working with CO2 neutrality leading up to 2050 and cooperating on furthering an effective price on CO2 emissions that can support the fulfilment of the Paris Agreement’s objectives.

Read the full agreement

-Source: Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate