October 12, 2009

Something Rotten in the State of Denmark?

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


After all my blogging about the relative peachiness of climate politics in Denmark, over the weekend the story broke that the country’s lead negotiator has resigned.

Thomas Becker, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry for Climate and Energy and Minister Connie Hedegaard’s “right hand man,” quit his post on Friday—apparently not long after we were hearing from Hedegaard about how much agreement there is on climate policy in Denmark. The Danish press is speculating that the departure is the result of a rift between Becker’s views and those of the new Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen. Becker is said to have wanted the country to stake out a more aggressive position on climate than the PM’s office is willing to back.

Hedegaard said on Danish television that his exit is “purely an administrative matter.” Becker will apparently be replaced with senior diplomat Steffen Smidt. From Reuters:

The move so close to the Dec. 7-18 meeting coincided with growing worries about whether governments will reach a deal after talks in Bangkok made little progress. Only one more meeting, in Barcelona next month, remains before negotiators come to Denmark.

Although the host’s chief negotiator can wield influence as a broker behind the scenes, Denmark’s own position is tightly tied to European Union policy, and Becker’s absence was seen as unlikely to change an outcome which will be decided primarily by the big powers.

Becker is credited with the idea of holding the climate change conference, which Hedegaard will chair, in the Danish capital.

DailyKos also has an excellent piece giving context to the departure, including a translation of Hedegaard’s statement:

I don’t think I’ve ever had as close a working relation with the prime minister … I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there have been controversies; I’ve brought people from the climate ministry, they’re supposed to work with people in the prime minister’s office–it’s a clash of cultures. The pressure on all of us is extraordinary … but throwing mud like this will get us nowhere.

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate