Climate Ambassador Programmes in Municipalities: Encouraging climate change mitigation in public administrations and institutions

Some Danish municipalities have developed ambassador programmes which generate environmental and climate change mitigation efforts in local public administrations and institutions. This chapter analyses the characteristics and experiences of four ambassador programmes now operating in the municipalities of Furesø, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Frederiksberg and Hvidovre. Two of the ambassador programmes presented here focus primarily on climate change mitigation initiatives, and two have a broader focus on sustainable development. Important elements for the impact of these programmes are the networking among the local ambassadors, the central coordinator’s ability to support the local ambassador with knowledge about mapping, reduction of environmental impacts and facilitation of development of initiatives, and mechanisms for the allocation of cost savings from local resource savings.