Activities of Secretary-General in Denmark, 11-12 October

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Copenhagen from Oslo on Tuesday morning, 11 October.

His first appointment was to address the Global Green Growth Forum, also called the “3GF”, at the Moltkes Palace.  He said these three Gs must respond to social, economic and environmental challenges equally.  We need to marshal all forces to power progress in a way that protects our planet and promotes the welfare of all people, he said.  (See Press Release SG/SM/13867.)

The Secretary-General then went to the Royal Palace where he had an audience with Queen Margrethe II.

At the Ministry of Defence, he also held separate meetings with Defence Minister Nick Hækkerup, and the Minister for Climate, Energy and Buildings, Martin Lidegaard.  The Secretary-General also had a working lunch with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in her office and he spoke to the press with the Prime Minister after that.

The Secretary-General then toured the UN City in Copenhagen, which will eventually house almost all United Nations staff in the city, and met with United Nations staff at a huge nearby UNICEF warehouse that is also under construction.

He later went to the Foreign Ministry for separate meetings with Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal and the Minister of Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Mohammad Bedjaoui, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria and former President of the International Court of Justice.

And that evening, the Secretary-General attended a dinner for participants in the Global Green Growth Forum.

The following morning the Secretary-General departed for Stockholm, Sweden.