This is a CTP of initiative: INFORSE ‐VE (Denmark)
2004 – 2005: finding new funding VE and associated organisations had some difficult years after 2001, but in 2004 – 2005 new possibilities were created, especially in relation to energy savings. New legislation forced utilities to do an effort concerning energy savings – including funding of public enlightenment. VE and the associate local environment and energy offices receive 15 million DKK and start the new organisation ‘Energitjenesten’ – ‘The Energy Service’. Energitjenesten continues much of the work that the local environment and energy offices had done. It was, however, necessary to create an organisation that was independent of the member-based local environment and energy offices. AV: it was important that most political parties in parliament were behind the new scheme of funding. In the latest agreement nearly all political parties were included. The trick was to get the funding from the utilities – the utilities had funding for public enlightenment. The national government did not have to spend any money.
After the crisis in 2001, the entire network around VE was mobilized: researchers, politicians, industrial leaders etc. These worked with different kinds of ideas for future funding, which were independent of the government, and found the solution of having the utilities – the energy companies – financing a special fund for energy savings and related issues. This idea had, at least at the time being, support from members of most political parties. AV: the ‘green’ political parties made a giant effort in order to find ways of financing.
Building up the network around VE had been going on since the very start of the organisation. The close links with researchers and with member of the so-called ‘alternative green majority’ in the Danish Parliament were important. Sustainable energy had become accepted and parts of Danish industry were quite interested in keeping the momentum. Other parts of Danish industry – those industries with a huge energy demand – were against this kind of ‘unfair taxes’ on energy consumption
The critical turning point is about creating consensus after having had conflicts about the value of sustainable energy. Actually the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, turned around from being in opposition to sustainable energy to supporting strategies for ‘green growth’ in 2006.
VE had been working for creating alternative funding since the crisis in 2001 – although the actual result had not been foreseen in the very beginning.
The most important lesson learnt was that it is decisive to have a broad political basis in order to secure funding. It can, however, be questioned how strong the broad political basis was in reality Those opposing the ‘unfair taxes’ on energy consumption did eventually succeed in creating a majority for dismantling the taxes. EU helped in this process, regarding it as a hidden, illegal national support of Danish industries related to the development of sustainable energy and energy savings. This political debate will continue in the Danish parliament later in 2016. AV: The difference between now and 2001 is that in 2001 we were in a period with economic growth, now there is still a sense of crisis. The present sense of crisis is influencing a number of political parties. What kind of jobs are we going to create in future? Hence, the local environment and energy offices are again in a situation without national funding, to a large extent dependent on selling services to municipalities and private actors, using their competences in relation to energy saving programmes. AV: It is still important not to be too dependent on a single partner and instead have a very broad scope of partners you collaborate with. We are not only collaborating with left-wing parties; we have contacts with almost all political parties.
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