1 tonne Less

No less than 50,000 Danes have made a personal pledge to reduce their individual CO2 emissions in response to the government's 1 Tonne Less public awareness campaign

In March 2007, the "1 Tonne Less" campaign was launched in Denmark to heighten public awareness of the need for energy efficiency and encourage citizens to curb their domestic CO2 emissions in a bid to reduce the national average personal CO2 emission from 6 tonnes per year to 5 tonnes per year - nearly a 17% reduction!

The campaign, featuring a website complete with personal CO2 emission calculator and a host of domestic energy saving suggestions, and backed by a road show including the involvement of Danish celebrities, quickly caught the public's attention. By October 2007 - just 6 months after its launch - a survey showed that almost half the country was aware of the campaign and virtually everyone sympathised with its aims.

18 months on, the Ministry of Climate and Energy has announced in a press release that no less than 50,000 Danes have made a personal pledge to reduce their individual CO2 emissions. Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard expressed her satisfaction that so many Danes had risen to the challenge: "It underlines the fact that the 1 Tonne Less campaign has been a great success, with so many citizens actively taking a standpoint on the changes our planet is going through."

The campaign is far from over yet, however. In December 2009 the Danish capital Copenhagen hosts the crucial UN Climate Change Conference COP15, which represents the last chance for the nations of the world to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The 1 Tonne Less campaign will continue in 2009 with a whole range of new activities and will aim to engage many more Danes in saving energy and reducing their personal CO2 emissions, to the benefit of the earth's climate.