Green Roads to Growth Green Roads to Growth Inspiration for local political initiatives United Federation of Danish Workers Green Roads to Growth Green Roads to Growth Index in Municipalities Green roads to growth in municipalities ............ 3 Still potential to more............................ 4 Employment effect of selected initiatives ........... 9 he green road to growth is paved with local authority initiatives. Or at least it could be. This Assens Municipality ............................ 10 Tis why we have collected information in this publication to serve as inspiration for local Esbjerg Municipality ............................ 12 political initiatives that can boost the use of green technology and the creation of new jobs. Frederikshavn Municipality ...................... 14 One of the most important issues on the current political agenda is to find out how we can Furesoe Municipality ............................ 16 create growth and jobs in the wake of the economic crisis. The big question is how we can earn Halsnaes Municipality........................... 18 our livelihoods in the future? What can replace the 180,000 jobs lost in Denmark in recent years? Hilleroed Municipality ........................... 20 Two answers are, to put it briefly, green jobs and green technology. At The United Federation of Danish Workers 3F, we focus on what is behind the headlines. Ikast-Brande Municipality ....................... 22 How do we develop green technology? How far have we come? What kind of green jobs can Lejre Municipality .............................. 24 be created, and how many? We also want to do our best to push development forward, spread Lolland Municipality............................. 26 news of good examples and generally provide inspiration for growth in this field. Some of the Ringkoebing-Skjern Municipality.................. 28 prime movers behind such growth are the 98 local authorities in Denmark. We have asked sev- Samsoe Municipality ............................ 30 enteen of them to describe what they have done locally to further green growth and what they Slagelse Municipality ........................... 32 are planning for the future. Syddjurs Municipality ........................... 34 They represent both small and large municipalities, politically both left and right, and geo- Sonderborg Municipality......................... 36 graphically spread throughout the country. Despite their great differences, they have one thing Thisted Municipality ............................ 38 in common: they are all at the forefront as regards green initiatives. Some of them move fast; others are somewhat slower, but they all have a clear focus on green growth. Many of them Vesthimmerland Municipality..................... 40 have prepared a climate plan and have already started on – or are considering – energy renova- Local Government in Denmark .................... 42 tion activities, investment in renewable energy and expansion of their district heating networks. And, in several of the municipalities, solar cells, wind turbines, wave power, biomass and algae projects are more than just empty words. Our hope is that this publication can help local authorities inspire each other across their boundaries and give the municipalities that lag a bit behind the input they need to embark upon the important job of speeding up local green growth. We are fully aware that finances are tight Published by United Federation of Danish Workers for many local authorities and that the battle for resources will be tough in preparing next year’s 4, Kampmannsgade budgets. However, this only makes the need for green growth greater and shows how important DK- 1790 Copenhagen V Denmark it is to choose the green path that can lead to growth and more jobs. www.3f.dk www.groennejob.dk March 2012 Prepared by: Jesper Lund-Larsen Cover photo:Colorbox Ellen Lykkegaard Layout and print: 3F’s Communicationdepartment Chairman of the Item number: 6073-1 Public Sector The pictures in the booklet is provided by the individual municipalities 3 Green Roads to Growth FOCUS…on targeted investments 3F recommends that local authorities 2010, prepared by the Danish District different roles in such a transition, act- focus specifically on the following Heating Association, shows how ing as authority, planner, mediator and three sectors that can create growth seven or eight thousand new jobs can Still potential to more enterprise. and jobs in Denmark: be created in this sector. A good way ahead for a local author- ity that wants to really promote a transi- Biogas and biorefining Offshore wind parks tion to greener approaches is to make Ambitious and targeted investment Denmark needs to continue on its a serious commitment to do so: simply in biogas and biorefining will enable green adventure. We must continue to pledge to achieve a number of green the creation of several thousand new develop wind energy technology and District heating pipes are being laid, oil-fired burners scrapped, biogas production facilities kick- goals. One example of such a pledge is jobs in Denmark, either in the form of use: local authorities in areas close started, low-energy light bulbs installed, rainwater collected, climate agreements written, and the the municipal climate agreement made temporary jobs connected with civil to the coast can benefit greatly from with the Danish Society for Nature works contracts or permanent jobs installing offshore wind turbines that rays of the sun used both for power and heat generation. In brief: Denmark is growing greener. Conservation. Seventy out of the 98 local that cannot be outsourced to other can generate power for local resi- authorities in Denmark have signed up countries. Such jobs will also benefit dents and enterprises. Also, neigh- as ‘climate municipalities’, committing local communities. bouring municipalities can be offered owever, although many local au- shares in such wind turbine projects. Hthorities in Denmark have adopted District heating Such an approach would create per- more energy-friendly policies and have There is a great deal of potential for manent jobs locally, as people would launched many projects that will benefit expansion of district heating systems be needed to maintain and operate the climate, local budgets and the local in Denmark. Heating Plan Denmark the wind turbines. labour market, the potential remains for so much more green growth. There is no doubt that local authori- ties should act as quickly as possible to start even more projects that will result in energy savings and the use of climate- friendly energy, while also generating local growth in the form of jobs for local builders, tradespeople and others. In connection with the forthcoming budget negotiations, local authorities should therefore carefully consider en- ergy- and climate-friendly activities that could be initiated to generate growth and – over time – save money. Green approaches would generate new jobs In this publication, Local Government Denmark (LGDK) – the organisation for local authorities in Denmark – points out that financial gain can be achieved by local authorities embarking on green projects that fall outside the scope of their core activities. Such a focus on a transition to green approaches would generate new jobs and thus help attract and retain workers locally. LGDK also states that a local authority could play 4 5 Green Roads to Growth themselves to reducing carbon emis- Syddjurs, Thisted and Ringkøbing- able payback periods in this scheme are and privately owned buildings – is seen sions by between two and four per cent Skjern have made biogas production a clear indicators of the benefits involved. as one of the areas with the greatest po- each year. Vesthimmerland, Thisted and focus area. In Ringkøbing-Skjern alone, Solar energy systems are far from tential for growth. The local authority’s Slagelse – all three are local authorities biogas activities are expected to gener- the only option local authorities have calculations show that energy optimisa- that also contributed to this publication ate up to 1,500 jobs, primarily in the local if they want to make municipal build- tion could generate new jobs equivalent – are just three of those climate munici- area. ings greener. A general energy systems to about 2,500 man-years; their first goal palities. The sun is also becoming a new good overhaul involves numerous benefits, is to create 300 full-time jobs over the Another type of initiative that greatly friend of many local authorities, not both in the context of green accounts next five years. If the tender documents boosts green growth locally involves least because the prices of previously and in generating new jobs locally. are designed to make it possible, also major restructuring of local power and very expensive solar panels have at financially, for local builders and enter- heating supply systems. In many mu- long last peaked and are going down, Energy renovation prises to submit bids, the hope is that nicipalities, including Syddjurs, Assens, making payback periods shorter as well. The existing energy labeling system can there will be an instant increase in local Furesø and Ikast-Brande, district heat- Municipalities such as Frederikshavn be an excellent instrument to use in this employment levels. This would benefit ing grids are being rapidly expanded. and Halsnæs are increasing their use of respect. Thisted is one of the local au- all parties involved. Such expansion not only creates jobs in solar panels,