We hear you!

Every day on my way to work and I pass this message written on a wall: “Listen to “Greta Thunberg”. I read it as a cry for help, from a generation who will live in a mess, they did not create themselves.

Today I want to answer that message. For months the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies have worked on a report for the Danish Innovation Fund. The report was made together with the Climate Solutions Panel, consisting of academia, business, NGOs and policymakers and presented today. The ultimate objective was to identify climate solutions that draw on Danish strengths but can be exported globally. Denmark’s own CO2 emissions is proportionately low, accounting for 0.1% of the global total, but as with the Danish wind energy adventure, we have a possibility to punch above our weight, to be first movers.  

To whomever wrote the message and to a generation that could easily be discouraged and turn fatalistic I just want to say, we hear you, and more importantly, we are taking action.

The Danish parliament has decided to entrust the Innovation Fund Denmark with almost 800 million DKK in 2020 to finance research and innovation projects with the potential to combat climate change and enable a more sustainable society. The conclusions from this report will serve to guide the Fund in creating new sustainable solutions.

We are not there yet. There is a long way to go, but across sectors there is an understanding of a burning platform, a willingness for change and already actions are being taken. 

#Climate change, #mitigation, #green growth, #futures