Brussels, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas launched an awareness-raising campaign entitled, “You control climate change” in Brussels on Monday. The campaign, which will begin in the 25 Member States in the next few days, challenges European citizens to make small changes to their daily routine in order to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It offers a wealth of practical and easy-to-do advice while aiming to give people a sense of personal responsibility and empowerment to help them contribute to the fight against climate change. According to Commission statistics, households are responsible for 16% of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions, most of which comes from the production and use of energy.
The campaign will use television and in newspaper advertising and a range of electronic tools. Full information can be found on the campaign web site: http: //http://www.climatechange.eu.com . The site explains climate change and its effects, and provides some 50 tips on how to reduce emissions, ranging from turning down heating by 1°C (making energy savings of up to 10%) to not leaving televisions, stereos and computers on stand-by mode (saving 10% of the energy they consume) and printing double-sided (making savings of up to 50% in paper). A carbon calculator calculates the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) saved by each action, and visitors can download a power-saving screen saver for their computers. The campaign is also aimed a secondary school pupils, who will be encouraged to sign a pledge to reduce their CO2 emissions and track their efforts. In many cases, national governments are supporting the campaign through various activities. Josef Pröll, Austrian Federal Minister for the Environment, will, for instance, attend a workshop for pupils in the Austrian Parliament, and, in other Member States, government representatives will publicly call for action. Well-known personalities, such as pop stars, bands and TV weather presenters, will also take part in the campaign, which has a budget of 4.7 million euro.
“For the Commission, action against climate change is a priority. This campaign complements and reinforces our political and legislative efforts. It makes clear the extent to which we are all responsible for climate change and what individuals can and need to do to limit this threat,” said Mr Barroso.