MACON — The Danish Ambassador to the United States, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, will give a lecture on Tuesday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Medical School Auditorium on Mercer University’s Macon campus. The lecture is titled “Denmark and the Road to a New Energy Paradigm for the 21st Century.” The speech will highlight the challenges that face fossil-fuel based energy systems and the Danish energy model.
Since the oil crisis in the 1970s Denmark has invested heavily in energy efficiency and renewables, growing its economy by 80 percent over the past 30 years, without increasing its energy consumption. Recently, the Danish government has set out to become independent of fossil fuels by 2050 – in part, because of climate change concerns and, in part, to sustain its energy independence.
As Danish Ambassador to the United States, Taksoe-Jensen represents the government of Denmark in the U.S. and is responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy. He was appointed to the position in 2010, after serving two years as assistant secretary-general for legal affairs at the United Nations.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Taksoe-Jensen spent more than 20 years in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has been posted to the Danish Embassy in Vienna and to Brussels as a member of Denmark’s representation to the European Union. He worked in different areas in the ministry dealing with foreign policy, security policy, arms control and international law. He also served on various government commissions.
Taksoe-Jensen holds a degree in law from the University of Copenhagen and has taught numerous courses on European Union law and policies, as well as negotiations. He is well known in international legal circles, where he has been the driving force behind a number of Danish policies and initiatives to strengthen and develop international law.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,200 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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