Danes raise 2.4 mn euro in first climate telethon

Danes donated around 2.4 million euro (USD 2.6 million) on Saturday for the planting of trees, in a telethon event described as the world's first to focus on the climate.

For every donation of 20 Danish kroner (about USD 3 or 2.7 euros), one tree will be planted, and 20 per cent of the funds raised will go to forest conservation efforts in Denmark and abroad.

The objective of the event broadcast on public TV channel TV2 was to raise 20 million kroner in order to plant one million trees in the Scandinavian country.

At the end of the televised event the funds raised were still a little shy of the goal, but enough for the planting of 914,233 trees.

"It's a positive way to inspire people, showing how to make a difference, with a small act to tackle the climate crisis," said Kim Nielsen, founder of the Growing Trees Network Foundation, which is part of the project.

"It's the first time a charity show has focussed on climate issues on TV, it's very exciting," he told AFP.

According to a recent survey published by the European Commission 83 percent of Danes consider climate change to be a "very serious" problem.

Planting trees is one of the ways people can reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

"One million trees it's not a lot in a global perspective, but the idea is to make people aware of what they can do," Nielsen said.

The first trees are expected to be planted some time between late October and late November in protected areas owned by certain municipalities, the State or the Church in Denmark.