Latest from Copenhagen: Danish embassies walk the green talk

Danish embassies walk the green talk
Danish embassies around the globe are walking the green talk by lowering their energy consumption.

(Marie Sauer-Johansen 17/08/2009 11:40)

That each of us needs to get smarter about how we use energy is one of the messages that Danish diplomats deliver to decision makers around the world in the lead up to COP15.

To underpin this message, 17 Danish missions have decided to implement energy savings measures on their missions.

“The motivation was to ‘walk the talk’,” says Jesper Fersløv Andersen, deputy head of mission at the Danish embassy in Athens.”You are much more convincing when you show a good example yourself, especially in a country like Greece where people are fed up with words without action from their politicians and the EU.”

The Athens embassy has committed to cut electricity use with 4.5 pct. over the next three years. The embassy is the first out of 12 missions to sign a so-called curve-breaker agreement with the Danish Electricity Savings Trust. The agreement obliges missions to reduce their energy consumption with around 1.5 pct. per year.

The reductions will be achieved mainly by focusing on IT equipment, air conditioning systems, copying machines and TV sets.

An energy efficient procurement policy will also be implemented as part of the Curve Breaker Agreement.

While the effort to make Danish embassies greener aims to support an agreement in Copenhagen, the commitment to energy savings will continue beyond 2009.

Most missions have already committed themselves to a three-year energy saving effort. Later this spring, a status report on the Green Mission project will be launched as part of a campaign to encourage more missions to walk the green talk.