About CONCITO

Former Minister for Climate Change, Martin Lidegaard, established CONCITO in 2008 as an independent climate think tank. CONCITO works in close partnership with business, academia and civil society.

CONCITO means "I put in motion" in Latin, and that is precisely what Denmark's first green think tank wants to do on climate change.

Our purpose is to translate knowledge into action by channelling science and knowledge-based analyses and information on pathways towards a net-zero emission and climate robust society. We do this through a lens of four action tracks: 

1. Execute relevant analysis and knowledge translation with partners at home and abroad
2. Bridge science and politics (constituting the honest, ambitious broker)
3. Support the implementation of concrete solution pathways with action partners
4. Provide a neutral and high integrity platform for dialogue for decision makers.

CONCITO is Denmark's largest climate network with nearly 150 companies, civil society organisations, and academia as members of the CONCITO Council – each possessing extensive knowledge of climate change and action in their respective areas of expertise.

The CONCITO Council Members constitute the think tank, and our members engage actively in a number of thematic working groups to enrich the development of new projects, analysis and dissemination projects.

We are science-based in our approach. "Knowledge before positioning" is a core value in our work, and we are guided by the critical need for building innovative and collaborative approaches across all economical sectors and actors if we are to reach the scale and speed required by climate science.

We work through a programmatic lens and are currently working with a focus on the decisive global systems that need to be changed if we are to succeed in building a climate-safe future:

• Energy and buildings – including sector transition, renewable energy, electrification, energy savings and efficiency, and the role of the building in the green transition
• Future Food – including the full value chain from production, retail and consumption
• Future Cities – including planning, building, transport and adaptation

Additional programs are in the process of being established – with a particular emphasis on hard abatement sectors decisive for reaching a net-zero emission and resilient society between 2040 and 2045.
 

We also work on other related themes, including for instance:

• Climate Science – understanding risks, and nurturing integrated research with relevant disciplines
• Green finance – including innovative finance with investors, and new macro-economic thinking
• Climate behavior – understanding drivers for changes and nudging in lifestyles and behaviors.
• Landuse – including carbon storage, and synergies with infrastructure planning, food production, watershed-management and nature/biodiversity protection.
• Adaptation – including efforts to enhance national adaptation planning, preparedness and resilience along coastlines and the built environment.

CONCITO is a proud host to the groundbreaking "CONCITO Climate Embassy" that since 2009 have worked to support youth-to-youth education through, amongst others, training of over 700 dedicated climate ambassadors. The Embassy – which was awarded UNEP youth education Best Practice price in 2015 - has reached over 1 million unique users through its online portal.

We are open to adopting any existing and new technology that can help us decarbonise our society as long as this is sustainable in all dimensions, upholds the precautionary principle, and makes sense globally.

We work with every economic and societal actor who can play a decisive role in building a carbon-negative and robust society. Any move in an actor's carbon footprint from dark green to a lighter shade can be decisive, and CONCITO thrives on engaging all such actors in climate action.

We place our battle against climate change in the context of wider sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly the SDGs relevant for safeguarding the planetary boundaries and sustainable consumption and production. We acknowledge that resolving climate change does not lead to resolving other SDGs, which are also indivisible by nature, but no SDG can be resolved if we do not tackle climate change swiftly.

We are primarily enabling climate ambitions and actions in Denmark. However, we are global in our approach, and we, together with our international partners in the process of strengthening our international engagements. 

Denmark’s share of global carbon emissions are minuscule. However, Denmark can serve as a laboratory for developing innovative and front-of-the-curve national and local climate policies and actions while also being enriched by international experiences and solutions. 

Consequently, CONCITO works to: 

• Increase ambitions and actions at home to drive innovation, learning and actions at scale everywhere in politics, business and civil society
• Build strong knowledge exchange and collaborative efforts with Nordic, European and global partners as a means to:
  • Source best global knowledge and experience for enhanced action at home, and 
  • Inspire climate actions everywhere and export the best Danish and Nordic experiences and practices abroad. 

We, therefore, work in close knowledge-exchange partnerships with the World’s leading environment and climate think tanks in the Nordic countries, Europe and globally. 

• CONCITO has entered a strategic partnership with World Resources Institute (WRI), and the WRI has staff embedded in CONCITO to support Danish/global knowledge exchange. 
• CONCITO is a key project partner for C40 – the network of the World’s leading cities in climate action – spearheading work to bring the C40 “Deadline 2020” approach to Danish municipalities. 
• CONCITO is the Danish Network member for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
• CONCITO collaborates with a broad suite of Nordic partners, including for instance CICERO, Stockholm Environment Institute, FORES, ZERO, SITRA, Nordic Council of Ministers, Transport Økonomisk Institut (Oslo), Reykjavik University, 

CONCITO is financed partly by independent foundations and project partners. CONCITO receives no public funding beyond membership fees by specific public institutions. 

CONCITO is independent of political and commercial interests.

International Partners

The global sharing of best practices and knowledge is a critical prerequisite for a swift and effective green transition. Developing and sharing such knowledge is done best through collaborative efforts with relevant partners at local and global levels. 

CONCITO builds knowledge and experiences with partners everywhere and translates such knowledge into relevant action tracks, whether at local, Nordic, European or global levels. 

We, therefore, work in close knowledge-exchange partnerships with the World’s leading environment and climate think tanks in the Nordic countries, Europe and globally. 

CONCITO has, for instance, entered into a strategic partnership with World Resources Institute (WRI). The WRI has staff embedded in CONCITO to support Danish/global knowledge exchange. 

CONCITO is a key project partner for C40 – the network of the World’s leading cities in climate action – spearheading work to bring the C40 “Deadline 2020” approach to Danish municipalities. 

CONCITO is the Danish Network member for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

CONCITO collaborates with a broad suite of Nordic partners, including, for instance, CICERO, Stockholm Environment Institute, FORES, ZERO, SITRA, Nordic Council of Ministers, Transport Økonomisk Institut (Oslo), Reykjavik University.