What is 10:10?

10:10 is a movement of people, schools, businesses and other organisations working together to cut carbon by 10% in a year.

10:10 has hundreds of thousands of participants but is run by a small team of staff and volunteers from an office in Camden Town, London.

What are you asking people and organisations to do?

To cut their carbon emissions by 10% in a year – and to spread the word about 10:10 and encourage others to participate.

We’re also asking policymakers to implement policies that would help to bring down national emissions in the near term.

Why 10% in a year?

A 10% reduction in a year is good target for a number of reasons:

• It’s meaningful: it fits with the latest climate research which suggests that a 10% annual reduction in the developed world would be a proportional response to the problem.

• It’s achievable: most people and organisations can hit 10% in a year. And the majority will save money in the process.

• It helps us get started soon: ambitious long-term targets are all well and good, but we will only hit them if we start right away – and a one-year deadline helps us to do just that.

What are you trying to achieve and how are you going to achieve it?

10:10’s ultimate aim is to substantially reduce carbon emissions in the near term in order to reduce the potentially devastating impacts of unchecked climate change on the world’s people and ecosystems. To achieve this aim, we seek to:

• reduce emissions directly by encouraging huge numbers of people and organisations to make a 10% reduction in a year – and to help them succeed in hitting that target.

• reduce emissions indirectly by pushing for government policies that could quickly cut greenhouse emissions at a national level.

• reduce emissions indirectly by reframing the narrative around climate change in the mainstream media, normalising low-carbon activity and making it an easy, fun and economical part of everyday life.

• reduce emissions indirectly by sending a message to world leaders that large numbers of normal people and organisations are ready to act on climate change, and thereby positively influence local, national and international climate policy.

Who can join 10:10?

Everyone can take part in 10:10 – from individuals, families and schools through to businesses and organisations of all shapes and sizes. 

The only time we would reject a potential participant is if they have plans or operations that we believe are fundamentally incompatible with the emissions reduction agenda.

What about organisations that have already done lots to reduce their emissions?

We have set up the 10:10 commitment in such a way that companies that have already reduced their emissions substantially can usually still participate – as long as they are aiming for ongoing emissions cuts year-on-year.

Who has joined so far?

At the time of writing, approximately 76,000 people, 1,700 schools and universities, 3,000 businesses and 2,600 other organisations have joined 10:10. participants range from zoos and pubs to the entire government estate, from primary schools to FTSE100 corporations.

Is 10:10 continuing in 2011?

Yes. Although 10:10 was initially conceived as a one-year project to reduce emissions by 10% in 2010, we took the decision to continue into 2011 and beyond, bringing more people on board for their first 10%, and helping successful participants continue down the low-carbon path.

This year, we will continue to encourage people and organisations to cut their emissions by 10% within a year; push for national near-term emissions cut via changes to government policy and help create a new narrative around climate change in the mainstream media.

How do you know that 10:10 businesses, schools, councils and other organisations are actually cutting their emissions?

We know that 10:10 participants are cutting their emissions through a combination of hard data, anecdotal evidence and case studies.

The hard data element is based on our emissions reporting tool, which combines a carbon calculator, an emissions planning tool and a way to submit data to 10:10 HQ. Carbon footprints and targets totalling hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 have already been reported via our tool.

The anecdotal evidence is based on the high level of feedback we receive from participants asking for advice and telling us about the progress they have made.

As for case studies, various organisations have been profiled in their 10:10 journeys either by the campaign itself or by members of the press. All of them have been making impressive progress and some have already hit their 10% target and are now going beyond it. Click here to see an index of 10:10 case studies.

How much carbon has 10:10 cut so far? 

Based on data from our emissions reporting tool, we estimate that more than half a million tonnes of CO2 is being cut as part of 10:10 by organisations alone. That's equivalent to taking more than 200,000 cars off the road and breaks down as follows.

• Central government estate: around 150,000 tonnes

• Local government: at least 200,000 tonnes

• Businesses: at least 150,000 tonnes

• Schools and universities: at least 50,000 tonnes

• Other organisations: at least 20,000 tonnes

Half a million tonnes (at a conservative estimate) is a huge achievement for such a small and young organisation but we aim to scale this up by an order of magnitude within the next year.

What is Lighter Later? 

In addition to direct emissions cuts, we are working with government to progress policy changes that would see substantial and quantifiable near-term emissions savings. For example, our Lighter Later campaign has completely reinvigorated the fifty-year-old push for a reform of daylight saving time.

This policy – a shift to GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in the summer – now looks likely to become law, with expected carbon savings of at least half a million tonnes of CO2 and perhaps as many as a million tonnes, according to peer-reviewed research.

Do you keep track of or demand proof of an organisation’s emissions cuts?

We encourage all organisational participants to report their emissions data via our online tool. However, 10:10 does not audit emissions cuts. Auditing each participant would be impossibly expensive and administratively complex for us – and would introduce a barrier to entry on the side of the participant, too.

Furthermore, we don’t think auditing is necessary: the majority of large organisations now self-report their emissions for government schemes such as National Indicator 185 and the Carbon Reduction Commitment, in addition to their own annual reports. We fit in with this widely accepted approach.

Making a public pledge as part of 10:10 and then falsifying the data or achievement would present an enormous reputational risk that we believe very few businesses or other organisations would be prepared to take.

What's the difference between 10:10 and every other climate change campaign?

The main difference is that we concentrate exclusively on solutions, and especially near-term solutions. 10:10 goes beyond a general call to 'do your bit' or 'reduce your impact' and asks for a specific emission cut (10%) over a specific period (one year).

Put another way, 10:10 is about mass action rather than mass protest.

Another difference is that we always seek to frame the climate change debate in a positive, engaging and accessible way – both to reach out to the widest possible audience and to increase the chance of making change happen.

Is 10:10 political?

10:10 is not a political organisation, though it does (a) welcome politicians and political organisations to reduce their emissions along with everyone else doing 10:10, and (b) advocate government policies that would help reduce national emissions in the near term.

So far, more than 200 MPs and around 40% of local councils (representing a fairly even split between the main political parties) have joined 10:10, in addition to the government itself, which has committed its entire estate to a 10% reduction in emissions in a one-year period – equivalent to taking around 50,000 cars off the road.

What else have you achieved?

In addition to reducing emissions directly and pushing for low-carbon policies, 10:10 has raised the bar on what a short-term emissions target should look like. Previously many companies and organisations would proudly claim to be aiming for 2% or 3% emissions cut in a year. 10:10 has shown that much more is possible in the majority of cases and in doing so has changed the level of ambition that managers and boards discuss and sign off.

Furthermore, we have made great strides in another of our aims: to create a genuinely new narrative around climate change that sees low-carbon activity discussed positively in areas of the media where it is usually absent – from Heat and OK! magazines through to tabloid newspapers. Although the impacts of this exposure are hard to quantify without in-depth research (which we plan to commission in due course, funds permitting) we consider it a crucial and unique part of what we do.

Is 10:10 funded by power companies?

No. 10:10 has never received any funding from electricity suppliers or other companies involved in the provision of fossil-fuel energy. However, 10:10 is an inclusive campaign that encourages all companies and organisations both to reduce their own emissions and to advocate the 10:10 target to their customers, staff, suppliers and others. As such, some energy companies have decided to encourage their customers to sign-up to 10:10.

What kind of things are organisational participants doing to hit their 10% target? 

Every participant is cutting their 10% in different ways. To give, just a few examples: London Underground is turning off unused escalators; government departments have started monitoring their electricity consumption online and publishing it on their intranets and the web; Cadwyn Housing Association in Cardiff has bought a fleet of bikes for staff to cycle to work; Microsoft has implemented a system where staff can only print documents when they’re standing next to a printer, to avoid paper and energy wastage; Wall to Wall Productions have halved the number of flights taken during the filming of their flagship programmes, by combining the traditional “reccy” and filming trips into one; the Johnson Arms, Nottingham, has replaced its 35-year old boiler; the National Portrait Gallery has switched its picture lighting from halogen bulbs to super-efficient LED bulbs. See a full list of case studies here.

How do you help participants hit their 10% target?

We help all participants cut their emissions by providing – among other things – inspiring case studies, practical advice and downloadable materials such as posters and checklists. We provide these through our website (www.1010global.org), regular email communications, social networks and other channels. 

What happens after a participant has cut their emissions by 10%?

They will remain part of 10:10 and be encouraged to keep reducing their emissions by up 10% a year, or as close as they can get.

What's your plan for this year?

Over the next twelve months, funding permitting, we aim to:

• increase the number of 10:10 participants by a factor of 10

• to achieve sufficient carbon cuts and public profile to positively influence local, national and international climate policy

• to bring about at least one major policy victory

• to keep pushing for incremental emissions cuts that are both achievable and in line with the scientific evidence