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Copenhagen’s great climate challenge

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As Copenhagen gears up to host COP15, Gwladys Fouché reveals why this is the city to be in if you’re a er a business destination that takes global warming seriously

More than 15,000 officials from 192 countries are expected to descend on the Danish capital from 7-18 December, as it hosts the UN climate conference (or COP15), aimed at establishing a new global treaty on climate change. And, proving itself a fitting city to host this event, Copenhagen is turning itself into a green destination for business and business travellers. So, if you are keen to sleep in a hotel that minds its carbon emissions, have a meeting in a venue that serves organic food, and attend your appointments by bike, the Danish capital is the place to be.

In March, city leaders announced that they wanted Copenhagen to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. “We want to accomplish our goal in order to help stop global warming by significantly reducing CO2 emissions,” the deputy mayor in charge of environmental issues, Klaus Bondam, explained at the time. “We know there is a cost, but we are ready to pay it, because this is an investment in the future.”

The move was also a good way to profile the city and differentiate it from other European capitals.

“Everyone needs something to stand out and we had a green profile without knowing it,” says Ulrika Mårtensson, press officer at the Copenhagen tourist board. “We have a strong cycling culture, looking after nature is important to us, and we are surrounded by water. To be green was something easy to turn to.”

Meetings with a conscience

The Bella Center (tel. , bellacenter.dk), the largest convention centre in the Nordic countries, has invested €1.7m in energy-saving measures, including installing LED lights, insulation and more efficient heating systems, which have led to a 20% decrease in CO2 emissions on 2007 levels. It no longer offers bottled water, preferring filtered tap water instead, thus avoiding using 100,000 plastic bottles per year. It serves only organic Freetrade coffee and will prepare meals with organic products on demand.

“We will do whatever we can, within our financial constraints, to show our customers that we take the environment seriously,” says Lene Mortensen, Head of Congress and Events at the Bella Center. Part of this drive is to answer customers’ growing demands for green solutions, she says. “It’s especially true for catering, where there’s a growing demand for organic food.”

The Bella Center will host COP15 and 65% of the food served will be organic. Meanwhile, thousands of delegates will be booked in, wherever possible, at hotels that belong to Green Key, an international eco-label awarded to hotels that successfully minimise their environmental impact.

But you don’t have to be a head of state to have a green conference in Copenhagen. For smaller meetings, another good green option is to check in at one of the eight Scandic Hotels (tel. , scandichotels.dk), as the Swedish chain started focusing on green issues as early as 1993. The meeting rooms have whiteboards (rather than paper boards), all the stationery used is eco-labelled, organic Freetrade coffee is served and organic food is also available. The hotels can also advise you on how to make your meeting greener, or how to reduce your environmental impact by using their online environmental calculator.

Sleep soundly

Scandic Hotels continue to be green if you stay in them overnight. The chain has been awarded the Swan eco-label, a Nordic eco-label, for all its hotels in Scandinavia since 2004. Among the many green measures the hotels have in place are soap and shampoo being in dispensers rather than plastic bottles, to avoid waste, and the guarantee that all the cleaning products used have minimum environmental impact.

Another green hotel chain is Brøchner Hotels (tel. , www.brochner-hotels.dk), which has four hotels in the Danish capital. All the hotels in the chain are carbon neutral and belong to the Green Key label. Your card key controls the electricity in your room, so that when you leave it, all electric devices are automatically switched off. You can even hire an electric car by the hour to whizz around Copenhagen (parking is free for electric cars).

Travel lightly

It is very easy to travel green in Copenhagen. The city has a good public transport system, with two super-fast metro lines and a vast network of buses. But join the locals by jumping on a bike – like the 40% of the city’s commuters who cycle to work every day.

To get a bicycle, either ask your hotel – many of which have them available for hire. Or pick up a bike at one of the many public stands dotted across the city. You will need a 20 kroner (€2,70) coin to release a bike and you’ll get your money back upon return.

Copenhagen has an excellent bike-lane network: most major roads have built-up bike lanes, with special red lights for cyclists, while smaller roads have painted lanes

Eco bites

To round off your green business trip, head to one of the many green-oriented restaurants in the city. BioMio (19 Halmtorvet, tel. , www.biomio.dk) specialises in dishing out fresh organic food, such as Moroccan lamb meatballs, and pasta putanesca, and can cater for large parties.

One of the hottest spots in town is Kødbyens Fiskebar (100 Flaesketorvet, tel. , www.fiskebaren.dk), where all the fish and seafood comes from local suppliers and species threatened with extinction, such as bluefin tuna, are not served.

“We also look at when is a good time to serve fish from certain areas,” says Anders Selmer, the co-owner of the restaurant, whose furniture was built with recycled material and the heat from the kitchen is used to warm the dining room.

Like many green-oriented businesspeople, the reason why Selmer has embraced environmentally-friendly principles is simple. “I have two children and they are going to have to live on this Earth,” he says explaining that working towards creating a greener planet is vital for the livelihood of future generations.

FR Copenhague : le grand défidu climat

Alors que Copenhague se prépare à accueillir la conférence COP15, Gwladys Fouche nous montre à quel point cette destination prend le réchauffement climatique au sérieux

Plus de 15 000 représentants officiels de 192 pays sont attendus à Copenhague du 7 au 18 décembre pour assister à la conférence des Nations Unies sur le climat (COP15), dont l’objectif est de conclure un nouveau traité global sur le changement climatique. À cet événement vient se greffer l’ambition de la capitale danoise, visant à être la première capitale à zéro émission de CO2 d’ici 2025. Copenhague se positionne donc comme la ville idéale pour les voyageurs d’affaires qui souhaitent séjourner dans des hôtels qui réduisent au minimum leurs émissions de carbone, tenir des réunions dans des lieux éco-respectueux et rejoindre la multitude de navetteurs qui se déplacent en vélo au travail et à leurs rendez-vous. Voici un rapide tour des multiples manières de gérer son entreprise verte à Copenhague.

Réunions et conférences durables Le Bella Centre (bellacenter.dk) qui accueillera la COP15, a investi 1.7m € dans des mesures d’économies d’énergie. De plus petites réunions seront organisées dans des lieux respectueux de l’environnement dont les Hôtels Scandic (scandichotels.dk).

Dormez sur vos deux oreilles Les Hôtels Scandic et Brøchner (brochner-hotels.dk) sont deux chaînes à faibles émissions de carbones et elles font partie intégrante du label Green Key. Votre carte qui fait office de clé contrôle l’électricité de votre chambre. Lorsque vous sortez, tous les équipements électriques sont automatiquement éteints.

Voyagez léger La ville dispose d’un excellent système de transport public, mais 40% des navetteurs utilisent le vélo. Demandez une bicyclette à votre hôtel ou prenez-en une aux bornes publiques disséminées dans toute la ville. Vous aurez besoin d’une pièce de 20 kroner  
(2.60 €) pour débloquer un vélo et vous récupérez votre monnaie au retour.

Eco-cuisine Si vous cherchez des restaurants verts, essayez BioMio (19 Halmtorvet) et Kødbyens Fiskebar (100 Flaesketorvet). Lorsque l’on demande à Anders Selmer, co-propriétaire des restaurants, pourquoi il a lancé ces projets, sa réponse est : “J’ai deux enfants et ils vont devoir vivre sur cette Terre.”

NL Kopenhagens grote klimaatsuitdaging

Terwijl Kopenhagen zich klaarmaakt als gastheer voor COP15, vertelt Gwladys Fouche waarom deze zakenbijeenkomst de opwarming van de aarde au sérieux neemt

Van 7 tot 18 december worden meer dan 15.000 ambtenaren uit 192 landen in Kopenhagen verwacht als het gastheer is van de VNklimaatconferentie (COP15), met als doel het opstellen van een nieuw wereldwijd verdrag over klimaatsveranderingen. Dit gekoppeld aan het feit dat de Deense hoofdstad de eerste hoofdstad wil zijn die koolstofneutraal is tegen 2025, maakt het een ideale stad voor zakenreizigers die willen overnachten in hotels die hun koolstofuitstoot minimaliseren, vergaderingen houden in milieuvriendelijke vergaderzalen en deel willen maken van het grote aantal pendelaars dat met hun fiets naar het werk of afspraken gaat. Hier is een handige gids om op een milieuvriendelijke manier zaken te doen in Kopenhagen.

Vergaderingen met een geweten Het Bella Centre (bellacenter.dk) zal gastheer zijn van COP15, en heeft €1,7m in energiebesparende maatregelen geïnvesteerd. Kleinere bijeenkomsten zullen doorgaan in milieuvriendelijke plaatsen zoals de Scandic Hotels (scandichotels.dk)

Slaap vast De Scandic Hotels en Brøchner Hotels (brochner-hotels.dk) zijn beiden koolstofvriendelijke ketens die behoren tot het Green Key Label. Je Keycard bestuurt de elektriciteit in je kamer, zodat alle elektrische apparaten automatisch uitschakelen bij het verlaten van je kamer.

Verplaats je gemakkelijk De stad heeft een uitstekend openbaar vervoer, maar 40% van de pendelaars fietst. Vraag in je hotel een fiets of haal er één af in een publieke stalplaats in de stad. Je hebt een muntstuk van 20 Kroon (€2,60) nodig om er één los te maken en je krijgt je muntstuk terug als je de fiets terugbrengt.

Milieuvriendelijk eten Op zoek naar groene restaurants? Probeer BioMio (19 Halmtorvet) en Kødbyens Fiskebar (100 Flaesketorvet).

Anders Selmer, de mede-eigenaar van het restaurant over de reden waarom hij het uitbaat: “Ik heb twee kinderen en die zullen op deze aarde moeten leven.”

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