COP29: New agreement set to internationalise Denmark\’s Climate Partnerships

Under the theme of “Denmark & WBCSD: A New Era of Public-Private Cooperation,” the WBCSD and State of Green announced their collaboration at the Danish Pavilion during COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The joint initiative will strive to replicate Denmark’s model of climate partnerships across other countries and regions, aiming to internationalise Danish climate partnerships in the lead-up to COP30 in Brazil in 2025.

With insights and learnings from Danish climate partnerships, Denmark will act as a knowledge partner for the project. Over the next 24 months, WBCSD and State of Green will facilitate activities designed to promote knowledge-sharing among WBCSD’s members. The emphasis will be on identifying and sharing the most impactful elements of Denmark’s climate partnerships with both governments and businesses internationally.

“Our member companies depend on systemic transformations in global value chains to achieve the targets outlined in their corporate transition plans. They want to work closely with governments and investors to put in place the policies, business actions, and financial incentives to achieve these transformations. The Danish Climate Partnerships have demonstrated the power of dynamic collaborative efforts that bring together the public and private sectors to accelerate action by all actors,” Jennie Dodson, Senior Director of Policy, Advocacy & Member Mobilization at WBCSD.

“We are looking forward to working closely with State of Green over the next two years to explore the lessons our global membership can learn from the Danish Government’s Climate Partnerships and how they can inform our work with our member companies and global network partners to develop innovative and new public-private collaborations in other regions of the world that tackle climate change, restore nature and reduce inequality.”

“We are very pleased to enter this partnership with WBCSD to further promote experiences with the Danish Climate Partnerships. Danish companies and pension funds are globally recognised for their innovative approach to solutions and investments, as well as their strong belief in the strengths of public-private partnerships. Co-creation between business and industry, government, academia, and vested interests has been a hallmark of Denmark for decades and a key driver for our green transition,” said Finn Mortensen, Executive Director at State of Green.

The partnership was signed during an event at the Denmark Pavilion at COP29, focusing on public-private collaboration. Aside from the announcement, Concepcion Boo Arias, Head of Global Partnerships & Enablement at Maersk, and Nick Mabey, Co-CEO at E3G, also joined the session, emphasising the need for a new way of organising the public sector, the private sector, and finance to align on shared missions that deliver solutions and investment rapidly and at scale in response to complex global sustainability challenges.

Learn more about Denmark at COP29

The Danish Climate Partnership model

Established by the Danish government in 2019, Denmark’s climate partnerships include 14 sector-based collaborations between the government and businesses. Each partnership represents a key sector, such as energy, transportation, construction, and agriculture, and has developed more than 400 recommendations to help achieve a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Many of these recommendations have already been implemented, underscoring the impact of public-private partnerships.

For more details on Denmark’s climate partnerships, visit climatepartnerships2030.com.