Climate Action Day is Denmark’s national day of action for the climate, and an opportunity for all Danes to join forces with their neighbors, coworkers, or soccer teams to make their everyday lives a little greener together.
Last year, with help from the VELUX Foundations, Green Neighborhood Communities tested whether it was possible to spark conversations about the climate by involving everyone from cafeterias in municipalities like Roskilde and Svendborg to neighborhood communities from Nørre Snede to Frederikssund. The goal of 5,000 participants was far exceeded, as more than 10,000 Danes got involved on the day. This year, the ambitions are far greater, and the circle of partners is growing rapidly. It currently includes, among others, Grøn Kirke, DOX Denmark, the Danish Library Association, Praktisk Økologi, Meyers, the Local Government Association of Denmark, Repair Café Denmark, and several of the country’s municipalities. CONCITO is a knowledge partner, and the VELUX Foundations are providing financial support for the event.
What is the point of collective climate action?
When the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest report, it recommended implementing more far-reaching policy measures and directly involving citizens in the green transition. Here in Denmark, CONCITO and Deltager Danmark have examined the role our everyday consumption plays in the overall picture. The result is a white paper with concrete recommendations on the climate actions we need to take to achieve the necessary transition across all sectors of Danish society.
“It’s absolutely true that it’s not the responsibility of any single person—or their red meat consumption—that makes the biggest difference to Denmark’s greenhouse gas emissions. But by focusing on that, we also lose sight of the bigger picture: namely, that we need to change our habits to enjoy a fulfilling daily life that doesn’t take a toll on the planet. And when we collectively change our perception of what a ‘good meal’ is, or what a ‘beautiful garden’ is, we’ll also make a dent in those massive emissions,” says Rune Baastrup, director of DEMOCRACY X and co-author of the White Paper.
“Research shows that there are social tipping points where a change in behavior by just a few people can set major changes in motion. The hope for Climate Action Day is that it can serve as an opportunity to get enough people involved so that new green habits become the norm—one neighborhood or one cafeteria at a time,” says Rune Baastrup.
According to Bent Mariager, we must dare to believe in one another and in ourselves.
“Someone has to do something. That’s often the reaction I get when the conversation turns to the climate,” says Bent Mariager, who helped found Green Neighborhood Communities to find others like himself who wanted to make their daily lives more climate-friendly. He continues: “But people aren’t sure whether it makes a difference if they take action themselves. And what exactly should they do? There’s so much talk about the concept of the ‘green transition,’ but what it really means is that we need to piece together a new way of life that doesn’t harm the planet—unlike the way we’re living right now. What should that look like? Well, that’s exactly what we all need to work together to figure out.”
Find out more at klimahandledag.dk, where you can sign up for an activity and get help getting started with tools and guides that make it easy to take climate action together with your friends, soccer club, or coworkers.
DEMOCRACY X supports the creation of Climate Action Day by funding the salaries of the secretariat staff at Green Neighborhood Communities, which initiated the event, and by establishing cross-sector partnerships.
