‘Climate change is for real:’ Danish minister visits Houston for CERAWeek, pushes wind investments

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities is in Houston for CERAWeek, the annual global energy conference. Lars Aagaard is the second Danish minister to visit Houston this year during a period of strained tensions between the U.S. and Europe.

He’s pushing for a wider adoption of renewable energy as power demand surges in the U.S. due to the rise of energy-intensive artificial intelligence. The effort comes as the U.S. leans into oil and gas production under the administration of President Donald Trump, which recently withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement — the 2016 treaty to reduce greenhouse gases in an effort to avert catastrophic climate change.

Aagaard said the U.S. withdrawal was “disappointing to see.”

“Climate change is for real, it is affecting us all, and we need a global effort,” he said. “So we are sorry that the U.S. have taken that decision, but fortunately there are other areas where we can work together, and one of them is to see what sort of roads should there be forward for getting more renewables into your electricity system.”

Danish energy companies, like Ørsted, already have a presence in Texas with heavy investments in wind and solar. According to The Texas Tribune, 92% of the growth in the state’s energy grid over the past three years has come from wind, solar and battery storage.

Despite the rapid expansion of renewable energy as part of the Texas energy grid, state leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have called for an increase in natural gas-fueled power plants. By contrast, Denmark is aiming to eradicate fossil fuels from its energy system.

“We have a pretty ambitious target in Denmark,” Aagaard said, pointing to the country’s goal of having no oil, gas or coal in its electricity grid by 2030.

Morten Bødskov, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs in Denmark, visited Houston in February to explore renewable energy, waste management and Denmark-Texas business ties. His visit came shortly after the Trump administration raised the prospects of tariffs if the Kingdom of Denmark failed to sell Greenland to the U.S.

At the time, Bødskov said “tariff and taxes is not the right way to go.” Aagaard echoed that perspective on Monday.

“I think the tariffs discussion between the two partners — well, it’s there,” Aagaard said. “But my hope is that we will see as much free trade between our two countries as we can because we benefit from that.”

According to the Denmark Trade Council of North America, business relations between the two countries supported more than 14,000 jobs in Texas and 200,000 jobs across the U.S. as of 2022.