Connie Hedegaard

Connie Hedegaard was born in 1960 and is Denmark’s first Minister for Climate and Energy. Ever since August 2004, when she was appointed as Danish Minister for the Environment, Ms. Hedegaard has been striving to raise national and international focus on climate issues. These endeavours are now culminating in the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009; the goal of which is to agree on an ambitious global climate agreement.

Besides her political career, Ms. Hedegaard is also a renowned journalist. She started in 1990, working on the Danish national newspaper Berlingske Tidende. In 1994 she became head of radio news at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, staying here until 1998, when she accepted the job as presenter for the news programme “Deadline” on the national DR2 television channel. She has also contributed to a number of books and has received numerous awards for her commitment and contribution to the social debate.

Ms. Hedegaard’s political career goes back to her student days at the University of Copenhagen. Her literature and history studies took place in parallel with a meteoric political career in both Danish and international politics. In 1984 she was elected as the hitherto youngest ever member of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget), for the Conservative Party, and in 1985 she was appointed President of the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders. In 1989 Ms. Hedegaard became political spokeswoman for the Conservative Party, but in 1990 she decided to leave politics and concentrate on her work as a journalist.

Besides her political and journalist activities, Ms. Hedegaard has sat on a number of boards, including the board of the Democracy Foundation (Demokratifonden) and as the chairwoman of the Centre for Cultural Cooperation with Developing Countries (Center for Kultursamarbejde med Udviklingslande). In 1991 she graduated with a Masters degree in literature and history from the University of Copenhagen. Ms. Hedegaard lives in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen, with her husband and their two boys.