Danish Prime Minister as Chief Guest at Raisina Dialogue 2021
23.04.2021 10:26
Prime Minister of Denmark, H.E. Mette Frederiksen was invited in as chief guest at the inauguration of the Raisina Dialogue 2021. Ms. Frederiksen initiated her speech with the words of Gandhi. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world,” she said and continued by emphasizing how the world has been shaken the past year. Unfortunately, not very gently as we live in the time of a pandemic and are facing global challenge such as climate change.
“Climate change does not only threaten our planet. It also threatens people. Forces them to leave their homes. Puts our livelihood at risk,” Ms. Frederiksen said as she stressed the seriousness of climate change and how the world’s poorest people and countries have contributed the least to it – however, they are often hit the hardest. Therefore, the international community, here among Denmark, must raise their ambitions to address climate change and its negative impacts particularly in vulnerable countries, according to the Prime Minister and concluded by saying “Without massive and rapid action, climate change will undermine the possibility of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.”
In her speech, the Prime Minister also touched upon the Indo-Danish Green Strategic Partnership, which were established in September 2020 at a virtual summit between Denmark and India, as an example of how we can achieve results by working together. The Prime Minister continued by saying “We stand on the brink of a green industrial revolution. With new clean energy sources and promising new technologies. If we combine Danish skill and Indian scale with speed, scope, and political will – we can launch a new era of just, green transformation. That leads me to my message for you today: The green industrial revolution is not only necessary. It comes with great opportunities and can put millions of people to work.”
She further stressed Denmark’s position as a green superpower and welcome India and other countries on the country’s green journey. The Prime Minister mentioned how Denmark on a windy day can produce more than 100 percent of the country’s electricity needs. This makes renewables a gateway to energy security. Further, renewable energy creates three times more jobs compared to fossil fuels and here, the Prime Minister said that Asia stands to secure the lion’s share of those jobs. “The green energy revolution requires investments. There is no way around that,” she said. Ms. Frederiksen concluded her speech accordingly by reciting the words of Gandhi “We must become the change that we want to see.”
The Raisina Dialogue is one of India’s premier conferences on geopolitics and geoeconomics committed to addressing the most challenging issues facing the global community. Every year, leaders in politics, business, media, and civil society converge in New Delhi to discuss the state of the world and explore opportunities for cooperation on a wide range of contemporary matters. The conference is hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Watch or re-watch the addresses from both the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Danish Prime Minister, H.E. Mette Frederiksen and President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, here.