Crown Prince Haakon of Norway to open international climate conference

HRH Crown Prince Haakon will open Climate Conference 2009 (CC9) at Hafslund Manor in Sarpsborg, Norway on 4 June.

For the second year running, the Norwegian power company Hafslund, the Bellona Foundation environmental organisation and the international organisation of former heads of state and government, The Club of Madrid, will invite prominent Norwegian and international social players to a major climate conference at Hafslund Manor in Sarpsborg, Norway.

The Crown Prince will be joined by his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit at CC9.

The royal couple are known for their commitment to environmental causes. Crown Prince Haakon was recently awarded Fjellskikkprisen (an award for responsible conduct in the Norwegian mountains) 2009.

Committed royals

“The Crown Prince and Crown Princess have shown a true and active commitment to minor and major environmental issues for a number of years. They are enthusiastic electric-car owners and when possible they often choose to travel by train rather than by air. They have also implemented several environmental measures to make their Skaugum Estate residence more environmentally friendly,” says President and CEO Christian Berg of Hafslund.

“They have come forward and shown that we can all do our bit to make things a little better,” adds Berg.

Like Berg, head of Bellona Frederic Hauge is extremely pleased that the Crown Prince and Princess will be attending CC9.

“The royal couple’s commitment to the environment makes them great role models and we are very proud that they have agreed to open this year’s conference,” says Hauge, adding: “Crown Prince Haakon possesses a wealth of knowledge concerning both climate issues and solutions. I believe that he is truly interested in the issues we will be discussing at CC9, namely the diffusion of climate technology and the financing of climate measures in developing countries.”

Famous company

CC9 will bring together a wide range of top-level national and international representatives from the fields of politics, industry, research and spokespersons for various organisations, as well as other prominent climate experts in Sarpsborg in June.

This year American environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of John F. Kennedy, will be among the conference participants. Mr. Kennedy will be joined by a range of researchers, environmental champions and current and former heads of state including Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, José María Figueres, former president of Costa Rica, Jennifer Shipley, former prime Minister of New Zealand, Benjamin Mkapa, former president of Tanzania and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger Aïchatou Mindaoudou. The participants will use the event to discuss concrete climate solutions.

The idea behind CC9 is to gather important players for a dialogue in connection with the climate negotiations which according to plans are to result in a new international climate agreement at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. Last year’s conference, CC8, resulted in a final memorandum which called on politicians of the world to cut developed countries’ greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.

The Children’s Climate Festival

CC9 will be held between 4–5 June and closes on 6 June with the first ever “Children’s Climate Festival” at Hafslund Manor. There will be a range of environment-related activities, competitions and games which the organisers Hafslund and Bellona hope will help to inspire environmental awareness in the next generation. This year’s winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Norway’s own Alexander Rybak, will be among the artists to perform at the festival. Activities will be led by popular children’s-TV presenters Margrethe Røed and Kåre Magnus Bergh.