Copenhagen  - The challenge of saving the world from global warming has not fallen to a revolutionary or a visionary, but a down-to-earth conservative politician and mother of two.

Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's climate and energy minister, will host next year's crucial UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, meant to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol on global emission levels.

In this exclusive interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, the 48-year-old former journalist explains how to win over the sceptics and singles out a global price on carbon and a cap-and-trade system as the most efficient way of delivering greenhouse gas cuts.

dpa: Ms Hedegaard, why do we need a deal in Copenhagen?

Hedegaard: Scientists tell us that we must stabilize global emissions within the next 10 to 15 years or we will reach a tipping point, and then any remedy will become very, very expensive.

It is not difficult for politicians to decide what should happen in 40 years' from now, when they will no longer be in office. But we must have an ambitious mid-term target. And it is doable - we have the technologies and we have the knowledge. But we must hurry.

dpa: You are looking for global cuts in the range of 25 to 40 per cent. Aren't you being unrealistic?

Hedegaard: By setting targets, you speed up efforts and you force people to think creatively. That is why they are so important.

dpa: What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to a global deal?

Hedegaard: While most political leaders acknowledge that we are facing a global challenge, their mindsets are still pretty much set on national action. Some key players just don't like being told what to do by the rest of the world.

All of us - the EU, the US, Japan, China and others - must get used to the fact that in a global world, global challenges require global responses.

dpa: Perhaps the global financial crisis, by reminding us that we are all interdependent, could actually help in this respect?

Hedegaard: I agree. The sense of urgency stemming from the financial crisis has actually made governments cooperate, take initiatives, and address challenges in a way that would have been inconceivable only a few months ago.

We are now facing the same sense of urgency when it comes to climate and energy issue. That is why there is one encouraging lesson to be learned from the financial crisis.

dpa: Two years ago, you accompanied US Senator John McCain and other US congressmen on a trip to Greenland. What were you trying to achieve?

Hedegaard: Politicians, like other people, are influenced by what they see. So, the very intangible issue of climate change suddenly became much more concrete to those who participated in the trip. One of them later told me: 'Now I really feel an obligation as a politician to act.'

dpa: EU leaders meeting in Brussels next month will be called to agree on an ambitious climate and energy package which calls for the bloc's emissions to be cut by at least 20 per cent below their 1990 levels by 2020. Poland, Italy and others are sceptical. How would you win them over?

Hedegaard: I would first try to explain to them the Danish case. Back in the 1970s, we were 99 per cent dependant on fossil fuel imports. And it became so bad that we had to prohibit people from driving their cars on Sundays. Today, 17 per cent of our energy consumption come from renewable sources such as wind, biomass and biogases. And our energy-efficient technologies have turned out to be one of our best export areas. So what appeared as a cost in the beginning has turned out to be a source of profit, also in terms of job creation.

I would also tell them that I am not so sure that the way ahead for Europe is to protect the industries of yesterday. Take the car manufacturing industry: we are facing a basic choice - do we try to modernize it, or do we try to prolong the pain with bail-out packages?

And would it not be wiser to become more energy-efficient, less dependant on gas from Russia, and stop pouring so much money into the Middle East?

In the end, the whole issue of climate change and energy efficiency is about strategic leadership in the 21st century.

dpa: How should global emission cuts be achieved?

Hedegaard: We must set a global price on carbon (emissions), because the minute you have a price for carbon, there is an incentive to become more energy efficient. In the end, the idea of using market mechanisms is the fastest way of disseminating (energy-efficient) technologies.

dpa: Can the election of Barack Obama facilitate a deal in Copenhagen?

Hedegaard: Obama has said that he wants to stabilize US emissions compared to 1990. Only last April, President George W Bush was saying the US would continue to increase its emissions until 2025. With one single speech, Obama has cut this expansion by 35 years. That is why I am optimistic. (dpa)