Climate Summit: Pedal power lighting up Christmas tree

But whereas the lights were lit by flicking a switch in previous years, other forces were at work this year.

Christmas started in Copenhagen last Sunday. The fire service’s traditional Christmas parade set off from the quay in New Harbour (Nyhavn) at 2.30pm in the direction of City Hall Square via the Walking Street (Strøget). An hour later, the parade met up with Santa Claus on the fire engine to watch him light the 17meter-high tree at exactly 4pm.

However, as a prelude to the UN Climate Conference taking place this December, Santa Claus did not light the tree alone. In a joint venture between the City of Copenhagen, Siemens and Osram, the city’s Christmas tree is pedal powered. The power to light the 700 low-energy bulbs is delivered from 15 bicycles from the Danish cycle manufacturer Kildemoes, each one of which powers a number of chains of light bulbs.

Everybody can contribute to the Christmas feeling by turning the pedals. When the tree was lit on Sunday, the mayors and their guests got the wheels turning so to speak, but after some time the public could join in. From 29 November – 18 December, the bikes will be open from 4pm – 8pm on weekdays and from 10am – 5pm at the weekends.

The Christmas tree only light up fully if all cycles are going - a clear challenge to Copenhageners to jump on their bikes.

“It is fantastic to be able to use an old Copenhagen Christmas tradition to focus on the climate challenge. Copenhagen is already known for its many bicycles, so it seems likely that this impression will be reinforced when the picture of Copenhageners “cycling for Christmas ” flashes round the world,” says the Mayor of the Culture and Leisure Administration, Pia Allerslev (V – Venstre, Denmark’s Liberal Party), who gave this year’s Christmas speech when the tree was lit.

As usual, it is City Hall’s technical department who is responsible for all the practical details of the tree, which this year is the 94th in succession of the city’s Christmas trees.

While Copenhagen is hosting the Climate Conference from 7 – 18 December, the city will be buzzing with other climate activities of all sorts. Amongst other events during that period, City Hall Square will be transformed to a cornucopia of activities, exhibitions, concerts and happenings, all coming under the banner of ”Hopenhagen LIVE.”

It will also be possible to follow the efforts of the cyclists on Hopenhagenlive.dk , which will be covering the event on a daily basis.