A Sustainable Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU

The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2012 will be sustainable. By reducing the direct environmental impact of the meeting activities during the EU Presidency and by using the Presidency to encourage the development of sustainable and innovative thinking, Denmark will contribute to a more sustainable development.

A three-tier approach to sustainability
The sustainability effort of the Danish Presidency of the Council combines three mutually supportive tracks:

1. Certification of the Danish Presidency of the Council
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs will work towards achieving a certification of the event management system in connection with the cross-cutting logistic activities according to ISO20121 standards. As a vital part of the certification process, a sustainability policy has been developed. The policy is formulated on the basis of The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol which the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs developed together with private partners in 2009-2010.

2. Demonstration of clean-tech solutions
During the Danish Presidency of the Council, companies will have the opportunity to demonstrate sustainable products and innovative clean-tech solutions by integrating the products into the meeting facilities. Solutions and products can vary from alternative energy, sustainable food, environmentally/climate friendly transport to construction technologies, etc. The opportunity will be open for large companies with well-tested technology as well as small companies still at a research level to present prototypes of clean-tech products and sustainable solutions.
Furthermore, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has entered into an agreement to participate in the green consumer information campaign “Tour2012Europe” in order to promote Denmark as a green nation.

3. Denmark as a green conference country
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is part of the Danish Sustainable Event Initiative, a consortium with the purpose of consolidating Denmark’s position as a green destination. Apart from the Ministry, the Consortium consists of Wonderful Copenhagen and Visit Denmark as key partners as well as a number of organisations and enterprises. The consortium will produce a common Sustainability Report in which the initiatives taken by different partners are described to give an overall idea of the national sustainability efforts. Based on this report, a number of branding activities will take place abroad.