Brussels, 08/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of industry and the public sector of several member states of the EU (Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland) took part in a visit to pilot companies in the field of energy efficiency in Denmark, on Monday 8 April.
This local initiative, known as “Engage in Energy Efficient Production”, was organised by the Confederation of Danish Industries in support of the pan-European campaign on intelligent and innovative solutions to climate change, “A World You Like”, which was launched by the European Commission (DG Climate Action) in October 2012. This campaign lays emphasis on existing valid solutions to achieve the objectives laid down for itself by the European Union of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by between 80 and 95% by 2050 and encouraging the creation of innovative solutions reconciling economic interests with climate action (see EUROPE 10705).
“The real climate challenge is applying the solutions we are already aware of at the necessary speed. It is therefore vital to distribute best practices and stop everyone from trying to reinvent the wheel”, said Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, who attended part of the visit.
The participants, representing 17 organisations (private companies, professional associations, think tanks and public administrations), visited companies in sectors as diverse as agro-food (Danish Crown) and industrial components (Grundfos pump manufacturer, Saint-Gobain ISOVER, which develops and produces innovative and sustainable insulation solutions), to show that the economic advantages to be gained from energy efficiency have potential to be exploited, across all sectors.
Grundfos, for example, one of the world's largest producers of pumps with an annual turnover of €3 billion, has managed to cut emissions from its production by more than 11% since 2008 (or 14,000 tonnes of CO2), thanks to its energy efficiency projects, whilst its turnover grew by nearly 20% over the same period. In Denmark alone, the company estimates that energy efficiency saves it €2.5 million a year.
This visit to Denmark was the first of a series. Since its launch, the “A World You Like” campaign has spawned many emulators, as it has already attracted more than 20,000 people on the social networks and brought together over 150 official partners now working for the cause (public authorities, NGOs, universities and business). Over the next several months, many of them will hold conferences, exhibitions and other events to share best practice and to provide information on ways of reconciling more decisive action in favour of the climate with economic growth and better quality of living. (AN/transl.fl)