Copenhagen’s climate choir and other mature activists raise their voices and change lifestyles for a greener Denmark

In the heart of Copenhagen, a variety of melodies fill a backyard. This is the climate choir, ‘Good Energy’, who are gathered in an attempt to make a stand with their voices. They want to alert politicians, Danes, and the agricultural sector to the urgent issues of climate change. Some of the singers, referred to as ‘climate elders’, are older activists fighting for a greener world.

Among them is 75-year-old Jorn Koefoed Jakobsen and his 62-year-old girlfriend, Connie Bloch. “I want there to be a world for my grandchildren. We are the ones who have caused the problem, we have consumed too much, so it is also up to us to say: Now we must do something different. It is not just the young people’s fight,” says Connie Bloch.

The couple has joined the climate choir to help ensure a greener Denmark with their voices. They perform songs that criticize agriculture and others that carry more positive tones. But they always sing with a smile on their faces, says Jakobsen. “We have to use all our strength. We go home happy after this, and hopefully, we plant something in those who are willing to listen,” he says.

They are not alone in their fight for climate change. Mature and elderly Danes have begun to embrace the climate fight. Some like Jakobsen and Bloch become activists and join associations like the Climate Movement or the Grandparents’ Climate Action, which, according to the association itself, has about 700 members across the country. Others change their lifestyles, for example, by eating less meat.

One of them is 58-year-old hobby farmer Allan Aabling. He has replaced conventional farming with elephant grass on his 4.5-hectare field. This plant can be used for fuel, insulation, and reusable straws, Aabling explains. He has done so because he believes it is more climate-friendly.

“We have to do what we can do. Instead of complaining that the climate is deteriorating, I want to make the difference I can on my fields,” he says. He also attends Ribe Dyrskue to encourage others to join him in cultivating elephant grass, all to ensure a better future for his children and grandchildren.

“It is important that we start shaping a decent climate for them. And I think we can do that with this plant. It may allow them to breathe in the future,” says Allan Aabling. This is why there is less meat served in his family’s home.

Back in Copenhagen, the climate choir is wrapping up the day’s action. And it does make a difference when the mature and elderly become activists and change their lifestyle, believes Connie Bloch.

“If we all do a little, I think it will make a big difference overall. Even if it seems like it doesn’t help that little me does something, it does make a difference if everyone does something,” she says.