Denmark was hosting COP15 - the big UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009, and VisitDenmark used this opportunity to promote green meetings internationally. VisitDenmark united with some of the biggest partners in the global meetings industry to discuss recommendations on how to hold sustainable meetings. A consortium was made up of seven key stakeholders in the Danish meetings industry, and this project is called "The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol". Its objective is to define and produce a globally accepted interpretation of sustainable meetings, which can be employed by international corporations and organisations when planning meetings in the future.
Read more about the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol COP15 has been certified as the world's first sustainable, international political summit. The fact that the Foreign Ministry decided that COP15 should be developed to a far greater level of sustainability than the UN required has worked as a catalyst for Copenhagen's meetings industry. It now offers a choice which is far greener than prior to COP15.
Copenhagen has been named the greenest major city in Europe. This was done by Siemens Green City Index - a study of the environmental sustainability of 30 major cities in 30 European countries. The index is divided into eight categories, among others CO2 emissions, environmental policy and recycling. Copenhagen is among the seven best cities in all eight categories and it is the city that overall performs the best.
Read more about the European Green City Index
Another huge achievement for Copenhagen is that a record number of Copenhagen hotels went green in 2009. At the end of 2009 the impressive number of 51% of all hotel rooms in Copenhagen were officially environmentally friendly. In 2008 the number was just 8%, and this achievement truly shows the high ambitions for sustainability in Copenhagen.
This is only a few examples of how Copenhagen has become a world leader in terms of making environmentally friendly initiatives and solutions. The ambition is to make Copenhagen the world's first CO2 neutral capital in 2025, and the goal is to build more windmill parks, use green energy and have cars that run on hydrogen or electricity etc.
What makes Denmark different?
We are not claiming to be the ”greenest” destination in the world, but for many years we have embraced sustainability in several ways. Please click on the following link to see more examples on how Denmark has taken initiatives regarding sustainability:
Sustainability in Denmark