Combating climate change requires individual commitment on a massive scale

10.45.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 20th May 2008

Tomorrow, May 21st 2008, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe will launch "theChangers.eu" as part of the campaign to encourage everyone to take action to reduce their environmental impact. The Changers campaign is multi-channel, including an interactive website "www.thechangers.eu", a European on-line bannering campaign and a wide range of offline posters and promotional material to highlight the simple yet effective actions every citizen can take to reduce their energy consumption and thus contribute to reducing global warming.

Graham Watson, ALDE group leader, and Lena Ek, ALDE climate change coordinator will be launching the website live tomorrow in Strasbourg:

"Combating climate change is not just about Commission initiatives or Government actions. It must involve the entire citizenry to adopt a more sustainable way of living and changing old habits. Simple steps like unplugging electrical appliances, switching off lights and reducing water consumption can make a huge difference when multiplied 493 million times," said Mr. Watson.

"We have been living in a consumer boom for the past 20 years," added Lena Ek. "Oil prices have tripled within a year, the world's population is rapidly expanding and our natural resources are becoming increasingly stretched. It does not take a great leap of imagination to realise that the environment will suffer if we don't modify our living habits."

TheChangers.eu is designed as a fun and educational website, aimed particularly at educating younger people, to inspire and stimulate behavioural change around the issues of climate change.

The story behind the website theChangers.eu is a virtual reflection of the real world. In this virtual world there are people who are already aware of the risks of climate change and are adapting their behaviour to combat climate change and others who harm the environment and eco-systems around them through their unconscious actions. By engaging in games and community activities to restore and maintain healthy eco-systems, the 'Changers' counter the damage caused by the behaviour of others and actively encourage them to take action by joining the Changers themselves.