"We think that the emission rights (within the EU) are too generous and we just want to use our power as consumers to buy these rights ... in order to reduce emissions," the head of the organisation, Svante Axelsson, told AFP.

On January 1, the EU launched a system that enables companies which have not used up all their "polluting rights" to sell them to companies which have exceeded their limit.

The sale of emission rights is open to the public, a fact which has not escaped SNF.

The group is giving the public the chance to buy carbon dioxide rights on its website for 350 kronor (37 euros, 44 dollars) per tonne, thereby depriving companies of those rights to emit the greenhouse gas.

Once a person buys the rights, they are kept with SNF which vows to save them and not use them.

Since the start of the campaign on December 8, 810 people and companies have bought emission rights for about 1,000 tonnes, often giving them away as a Christmas present.

"There has a been a great deal of interest. People have been very positive" to the idea, Axelsson said, adding that the campaign has been more successful than expected.

SNF said it believed that the purchase of emission rights could lead to a price rise, which could in turn prompt companies to increase their investments in renewable and environment-friendly energy sources.

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