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Dan Jørgensen

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Dan Jørgensen
Official portrait, 2024
European Commissioner for Energy and Housing
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 December 2024
PresidentUrsula von der Leyen
Preceded byKadri Simson
Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy
In office
15 December 2022 – 29 August 2024
Prime MinisterMette Frederiksen
Preceded byFlemming Møller Mortensen (Development Cooperation)
Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities
In office
27 June 2019 – 15 December 2022
Prime MinisterMette Frederiksen
Preceded byLars Christian Lilleholt (Energy, Utilities and Climate)
Succeeded byLars Aagaard
Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries
In office
12 December 2013 – 28 June 2015
Prime MinisterHelle Thorning-Schmidt
Preceded byKaren Hækkerup
Succeeded byEva Kjer Hansen
Member of the Folketing
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 June 2015
ConstituencyFunen
Member of the European Parliament
for Denmark
In office
20 July 2004 – 12 December 2013
Personal details
Born (1975-06-12) 12 June 1975 (age 49)
Odense, Denmark
Political partySocial Democrats
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
EducationUniversity of Aarhus
University of Washington
WebsiteParty website

Dan Jannik Jørgensen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈtɛˀn ˈjɶɐ̯ˀn̩sn̩]; born 12 June 1975) is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats who has served as the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing since 2024. Within Danish politics, he most recently served as Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy in the government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen from 2022 to 2024.[1]

Jørgensen previously served as Minister of Climate and Energy and Public Utilities (2019–2022)[2] under Frederiksen and as Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries (2013–2015) under Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. From 2004 to 2013 he was a Member of the European Parliament for the Social Democrats, as a part of the Party of European Socialists.

Early life and education

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Jørgensen grew up in Morud on the Danish island of Funen, attended high school at Nordfyns Gymnasium, and university at the University of Aarhus, from which he holds a master's degree in political science. He also studied political science at the University of Washington.[3]

Dan Jørgensen was chairman of the Social Democratic student organization Frit Forum Aarhus. His was influenced by the former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former environment minister Svend Auken, whom he met during his time in Frit Forum.

Dan Jørgensen is an external lecturer and has taught courses on environmental and climate policy at Seattle University and Sciences Po in Paris.[4]

Member of the European Parliament (2004–2013)

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Dan Jørgensen became a Member of the European Parliament for Denmark in the 2004 European elections with 10,350 personal votes and re-elected in 2009 with 233,266 personal votes, which is the fourth highest number of votes ever achieved by a Dane in an election to the European Parliament.[5]

In parliament, Jørgensen was the head of the Danish delegation of Social Democrats, the country's largest group at the time. He served as vice-chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety from 2004, and was a substitute on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

He was president of the intergroup on animal welfare.[6] He was a vocal voice on environmental and climate policy, animal welfare and budgetary control.

In addition to his committee assignments, he was also a member of the parliament's delegation for relations with Iran and a substitute on the delegation for relations with the United States.[7]

Career in Danish Politics

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Dan Jørgensen was appointed as Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in November 2013.

In February 2014, as Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Jørgensen signed a regulation which banned ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning.[8]

In the 2015 Danish general election, Jørgensen became a member of the Danish Parliament, Folketing. After the election Jørgensen became the party spokeperson on migration affairs until 2017, then he was appointed vice chairman of the social democratic parliamentary group intil his appointment as Minister of Climate, Energy and Public Utilities in 2019[9]

Form 2015 to 2019, Dan Jørgensen was the vice chairman of the danish deleagtion to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly[10]

In 2018, Dan Jørgensen went viral when he responded to Fox Business host Trish Regan's controversial comparison of Denmark to Venezuela. Regan inaccurately claimed that Denmark's social welfare policies had stripped its citizens of opportunities, similar to the situation in Venezuela. Dan Jørgensen posted a rebuttal video on YouTube, which has millions of views and where shared on several international platforms.[11]

Minister of Climate, Energy and Public Utilities (2019–2022)

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Dan Jørgensen became Minister of Climate and Energy and Public Utilities in the Mette Frederiksen cabinet, following the June 2019 election.

Jørgensen and his government have made international news with the agreement to reduce Denmark's territorial emissions by 70% in 2030 compared to 1990,[12] the decision to stop oil and gas exploration after 2050,[13][14] and the energy islands in the North Sea.[15] Also in 2020, Denmark agreed with Germany on closer cooperation in their offshore wind power development via clusters in the North and Baltic Seas to spur renewable energy and hydrogen production.[16]

Dan Jørgensen and the Danish government's initial proposal for a law on electric vehicles would add 500.000 electric vehicles (incl. plugin-hybrid vehicles) by 2030.[17] Had the proposal been agreed upon, it would have meant more cars with only internal combustion engines than in 2020 in Denmark. Because of pressure from other political parties, it was agreed that there would be 775.000 electric vehicles by 2030.[18]

In June 2022, the government entered into an agreement on a green tax reform. The agreement introduced, among other things, a new CO2 tax on industrial companies. Subsequently, Dan Jørgensen said that with the agreement on green tax reform, Denmark has reached more than two-thirds of the way to the goal of a 70 percent reduction in emissions in 2030.[19]

Despite the many agreements regarding the green transition, Dan Jørgensen received criticism that the speed of reductions was not going fast enough. Critics have, among other things, referred to the National Climate Council, which has called for further political steps to reduce the CO2 emissions.

Similarly, Jørgensen has been criticised[20] for allowing companies to continue the build-out of fossil fuel infrastructure like a natural gas pipeline of 115 km, with an associated cost of $113 million for Denmark.[21] In a formal answer to the Parliament, Dan Jørgensen confirmed that the gas pipeline would not reduce the carbon emissions in the short term nor add any jobs in Denmark.[22]

Dan Jørgensen received a "nose" in June 2020, a formal criticism by a majority in the Parliament for delaying negotiations with other political parties on biofuels.[23]

The domestic criticism was contrasted to the international mention of Denmark as a green pioneering country. For several years in a row, Denmark has been the best ranked country in the 'Climate Change Performance Index', which is international green organizations' annual ranking of a number of selected countries' climate efforts.[24]

Following the release of the 6th IPCC report, Dan Jørgensen said that alarm bells should ring for anyone having influence on climate politics in Denmark or abroad. Dan Jørgensen added that Denmark should help other countries copy Denmark's efforts.[25]

In September 2022, Dan Jørgensen proposed introducing an air tax and creating a new route for green domestic flights.[26]

With the agreement between the government and the so called ‘Green tripartite parties’ in June 2024, when Denmark as the first country in the world decided to introduce a CO2 tax on agriculture, Denmark now has the prospect of reaching the 2030 target of reducing by 70 percent in 2030.[27]

Dan Jørgensen is a strong climate change communicator. Some examples include a podcast in English called Planet A[28] and a campaign with videos on Facebook advising Danes to put more vegetables in their meatballs.[29][non-primary source needed] The campaign with Mogens Jensen cost Danish taxpayers 1.2 million kroner.[30]

At the TED Countdown Summit in Edinburgh in October 2021, Dan Jørgensen was invited to deliver a TED Talk about Denmark's climate goals and the country's expansion of renewable energy. His TED Talk has been viewed by nearly two million people on YouTube.[31]

Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy (2022–)

[edit]

With the formation of a new coalition government after the November 2022 general election, Jørgensen was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy.[32]

As minister for global climate policy, Jørgensen has played a prominent role in the UN's annual climate summits. Already as climate minister, Jørgensen launched the 'Copenhagen Climate Ministerial', which three years in a row has brought together ministers from all over the world to start the process towards the annual climate summit.[33]

Jørgensen is also one of the architects behind the 'Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance' (BOGA), which Denmark together with Costa Rica launched at COP 26 in 2021.[34] The alliance has brought together a number of national and subnational governments, all of which have set an end date for oil and gas production.[35]

The following year, Denmark helped launch the offshore wind alliance 'Global Offshore Wind Alliance' (GOWA), which aims to secure a minimum of 380 gigawatts of offshore wind globally in 2030 and 2000 gigawatts in 2050.[36]

During COP 28 in Dubai in December 2023, together with Barbara Creecy from South Africa, he was appointed to facilitate the negotiations for the so-called 'global stocktake'.[37] The summit ended with a declaration that the world must move away from oil, coal and gas. It was the third year in a row that Jørgensen had a prominent role in connection with the COP negotiations.[38]

Jørgensen has also been involved in the reconstruction of Ukraine, among other things through Denmark's partnership with the city of Mykolaiv. On 29 May 2024, he was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit of the first degree by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[39]

In late August 2024, the Danish government announced him as their European Commissioner nominee.[40]

Bibliography

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Dan Jørgensen has written a number of books about European affairs, climate and environmental policy and Social Democratic history and ideology.

  • De rejste sig trodsigt i vrimlen (They rose defiantly in the crowd), Sohns Forlag, 2011 - Editor
  • Staunings arv – vejen til et lykkeligt Danmark (Stauning's Legacy – The road to a contented Denmark), People's Press, 2018
  • Beyond deniers and believers – towards a map of the politics of climate change, Global Environmental Change, 2015 - Co-author
  • Grønt håb – Klimapolitik 2.0 (Hope is Green: Climate policy 2.0), Forlaget Sohn, 2010
  • Mellem Mars og Venus – EU's rolle i fremtidens verdensorden (Between Mars and Venus – The Role of the EU in the future world order), Forlaget Sohn, 2009
  • Politikere med begge ben på jorden hænger ikke på træerne (2009, Informations Forlag)
  • Grøn Globalisering – miljøpolitik i forandring (Green Globalization - Environmental Policy in Transition), Hovedland, 2007
  • Eurovisioner – Essays om fremtidens Europa (Eurovisions – Essays on the Future of Europe), Informations Forlag, 2006 - Editor

He hosts the podcast 'Planet A' on climate issues,[41] where he has interviewed prominent figures such as the EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Secretariat Simon Stiell.

References

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  1. ^ Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard (15 December 2022), Danish PM picks right-leaning rivals as key ministers in new government Reuters.
  2. ^ Deleuran Müller, Thea (27 June 2019). "Danmarks nye regering er nu på plads: Se hele Mette Frederiksens ministerhold her". dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Socialdemokratiet".
  4. ^ "CV of the Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jørgensen". UM-ENEN. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Danske Medlemmer Af Europa-Parlamentet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  6. ^ "CV of the Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jørgensen". UM-ENEN. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Your MEPs :Directory :Dan JØRGENSEN". Archived from the original on 20 October 2006.
  8. ^ "Welfare at slaughter". Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. 19 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Dan Jørgensen - Dansk politiker - Biografi". Lex (in Danish). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Dan Jørgensen". Folketinget (in Danish). Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Fox news host ridiculed for comparing Denmark to Venezuela". The Independent. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Denmark: We can slash CO2 by 70% in a decade and still have welfare". Reuters.
  13. ^ Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (4 December 2020), Danish phase out of North Sea oil, gas to cut output by up to 15% -minister Reuters.
  14. ^ Anjli Raval (4 December 2020), Denmark to end all new North Sea oil and gas exploration Financial Times.
  15. ^ "Denmark to build 'first energy island' in North Sea". BBC.
  16. ^ Nora Buli (14 December 2020), Germany, Denmark agree closer offshore wind cooperation Reuters.
  17. ^ "Regeringen klar med udspil til transportaftale: Målet er 500.000 elbiler i 2030". DR.
  18. ^ "Aftale mellem regeringen, Radikale Venstre, Socialistisk Folkeparti og Enhedslisten om: Grøn omstilling af vejtransporten" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Regeringen indgår bred aftale om en ambitiøs grøn skattereform". fm.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Naturgasløsning til sukkerfabrikker møder kritik: – Er naturgas pludselig blevet grøn energi?". TV2Øst.
  21. ^ "Minister korrekser Energinet: CO2-reduktioner ved en gasledning må ikke medregnes". ING.
  22. ^ "KEF Alm.del Sp 18".
  23. ^ "Dan Jørgensen får næse for klima-nøl: 'Ministeren har ikke taget Folketinget seriøst'". DR.
  24. ^ "Downloads | Climate Change Performance Index". 8 December 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  25. ^ "Dan Jørgensen: Klimarapporten indeholder en stor og alvorlig nyhed". Altinget. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021.
  26. ^ "13 kroner pr. flytur skal bidrage til grønne flyrejser i 2030". DR (in Danish). 20 September 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Denmark sets first carbon tax on agriculture". POLITICO. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Planet A – Talks on climate change". Archived from the original on 18 November 2020.
  29. ^ "Ministre leger klima-kokke". Archived from the original on 8 March 2021 – via Facebook.
  30. ^ "Ministres køkken-fifs koster million". Ekstra Bladet.
  31. ^ Jørgensen, Dan (3 February 2022). How wind energy could power Earth ... 18 times over. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via www.ted.com.
  32. ^ Bohr, Jakob Kjøgx (15 December 2022). "Her er SVM-regeringens ministre - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Copenhagen Climate Ministerial". SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  34. ^ "Costa Rica and Denmark launch alliance to phase out oil and gas". State of Green. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  35. ^ "Who We Are". Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Denmark makes international push for more offshore wind and a future beyond oil and gas". State of Green. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  37. ^ Harvey, Fiona; Lakhani, Nina (8 December 2023). "'This may be our last chance': Cop28 talks enter final phase". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Dan Jørgensen får en vigtig opgave, der skal hjælpe med at gøre FN's næste klimatopmøde til en succes" (in Danish). Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  39. ^ Mikkelsen, Af Lasse Sylvest. "Dan Jørgensen modtager særlig Ukraine-hæder". TV 2 Fyn (in Danish). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  40. ^ "Nu har Dan Jørgensen kurs mod Bruxelles. Men vejen til Europa-Kommissionen er stadigvæk lang" (in Danish). DR. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  41. ^ "Planet A - Talks on Climate Change on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries
2013–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities
2019–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy
2022–present 		Incumbent
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