On 2nd of June, Triscan hosted an event organised by the Business Policy Debate Forum Aarhus, where the Minister for Civil Protection and Emergency Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen, was invited to provide information about and answer questions about the relatively new ministry's work.
The Ministry of Civil Protection and Emergency Management was established on 29th of August 2024 in connection with a ministerial reshuffle in the Danish government. The areas of responsibility include the rescue services, the national operational staff, the alarm centres, SINE, cybersecurity, the coastal rescue service, marine environmental preparedness, security incidents regarding critical infrastructure at sea and cases concerning the disposal of radioactive waste.
The minister - who during a recent visit to Brussels had been updated on the work of other EU countries in the area - could report that we in Denmark stand on a reasonable foundation, which must be strengthened in the future. New and more contingency plans must be prepared because the general crisis picture has changed over the years.
Both critical infrastructure and the business community are increasingly exposed to hacker attacks, and especially here, the work on cyber security must be intensified and follow the EU directives in the area – including: the CER Directive (Critical Entities Resilience) and the NIS2 Directive (Network and Information Security). But climate change also places great demands on emergency preparedness - and here, among other things, there is an increased focus on the purchase of equipment.
Since the ministry's inception, many civil organizations have approached us with offers to be part of the crisis preparedness. The ministry is grateful for all inquiries and is now in the process of preparing contingency plans with the involvement of the various civil organizations.
In June 2024, the Danish Emergency Management Agency issued a guide to all Danish households, in which they encouraged everyone to ensure that they can always be self-sufficient for 3 days. In this connection, the minister reported that 34% of Danes - according to a recent survey - have so far chosen to follow the invitation.
The inquisitive audience was great, and representatives from Maersk, Systematic, Nykredit and Jyske Bank participated from the business community in Aarhus, among others. Aarhus Municipality was represented by Christian Budde, Alderman, Health and Care.