Prospects for the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Prospects for the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Proof of Climate Change ”unequivocal”

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Emissions levels and corresponding temperature increases

Embassy of Denmark to the United States The current international climate framework • UN Convention on Climate Change • Kyoto-protocol

Embassy of Denmark to the United States UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen December 2009 • TIME MAGAZINE, August 2008 • “The good news is that there may be no country in the world better prepared than Denmark to play host to a climate summit that could — just maybe — decide the fate of the world. As you leave Copenhagen's airport, you see soaring wind turbines along the side of the road, spinning in the nearly always present breeze. Get used to the sight — Denmark is a world leader in wind energy, and produces more than 10% of its power from turbines. That's meant cleaner air and greener jobs.” - Time Magazine, August 4, 2008

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Business-As-Usual CO2 Emissions Projections 90 80 70 Africa Middle East 60 Latin America Non-Annex 1 Southeast Asia 50 India China 40 Korea Former Soviet Union 30 Eastern Europe Japan 20 Australia_NZ Annex 1 Western Europe 10 Canada United States 0 1990 2005 2020 2035 2050 2065 2080 2095 Data derived from Global Energy Technology Strategy, Addressing Climate Change: Phase 2 Findings from an International Public-Private Sponsored Research Program, Battelle Memorial Institute, 2007.

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Historic emissions

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Tons of CO2 emissions per capita

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Three Key Issues in the Negotiations • Reduction committments by developed countries • Actions by developing countries • Financing of adaptation and mitigation in developing countries

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Positions of key countries in the negotiations: the U.S., the EU, China and India

Embassy of Denmark to the United States The Road to Copenhagen • Fourth preparatory UNFCCC meeting, September 29 - October 9, Bangkok • Major Economies Forum, October 18-19, London • Greenland Dialogue, October 30-31 • Fifth UNFCCC preparatory meeting, November 2-6, Barcelona • G20 finance minister meeting in St. Andrews, November 7-8 ----------------------------------------------------------- • Pre-COP, Copenhagen, November 16-17 • COP15 starts, December 7 • Heads of State and government, December 17-18

Embassy of Denmark to the United States The Danish government’s vision for an agreement at COP15 • Binding overall political framework for future efforts against climate change • Limit rise in temperature to 2 degrees Celcius • Reduction targets by developed countries • Developing countires commit to actions • Financing of technology transfer and adaptation by developed countries • Establishment of a global carbon market • A strong system for measurement, reporting and verification

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Will we get an agreement in Copenhagen? • Will the U.S. Senate achieve progress? • How far can the Administration go? • Will developed countries be able to put adequate offers on the table? • Will developing countries be ready to contribute? • Will we be able to speed up the work? • Yes, we can get a global agreement

Embassy of Denmark to the United States ”Everybody talks about the weather – but nobody does anything about it”. - Mark Twain

Danish Energy Policy and Achievements • “[After the oil 1973 oil embargo] Danes imposed on themselves a set of gasoline taxes, CO2 taxes and building-and-appliance efficiency standards that allowed them to grow their economy — while barely growing their energy consumption — and gave birth to a Danish clean-power industry that is one of the most competitive in the world today.” - Thomas Friedman, August 2008

Embassy of Denmark to the United States High growth but stable energy consumption since 1980

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Reducing emissions by 14 percent

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Increased energy efficiency

Increasing use of renewable energy

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Biomass – an important renewable resource

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Types of biomass

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Waste incineration

Embassy of Denmark to the United States District Heating / Combined heat and power

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Modernizing the grid: Linking to other energy markets and decentralizing energy production

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Tax on energy and electricity • Taxes on energy: • Energy tax on fossil fuels • CO2 tax • Sulfur tax • + ETS / cap-and-trade • Tax on electricity: • Electricity is taxed downstream (consumers) More than 50 percent of a usual household electricity bill is made up of taxes • Taxes on electricity have been raised almost 40 percent from 1997-2007

Embassy of Denmark to the United States Revenue from energy taxes • The green tax reforms were all revenue neutral. • Revenue spent on: • Lower income taxes • Investment subsidies for firms to promote energy technology • Reduction in employers’ Social Security Contribution • Compensation of households

Future targets Denmark has set goals to: • double the share of renewable energy to at least 20% of of total gross energy consumption in 2011 and 30% in 2025. • increase efficiency by 1,4% per year from 2010 to 2025 and reduce gross energy consumption by 2% by 2011. EU goals: • 20 percent share of renewable energies in overall EU energy consumption in 2020 • 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by 2020 • a minimum binding 10 percent share of biofuels.

Danish companies and energy technology GJ Denmark

Prospects for the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen