The Carbon Trust has today urged business leaders to undertake carbon reduction initiatives following the launch of a major new £5m government advertising campaign designed to encourage individuals to cut their carbon footprints.

The government and business-backed body said that it would be launching its own marketing campaign in the coming month that will see "it stress the importance for businesses to cut carbon by saving energy" and "reach out to business groups… to outline the range of tools, services and funding available to help them engage all their members in CO2 reduction".

The group, which last year received 35,000 calls to its advice line and helped its customers save up to 2m tonnes in CO2 emissions, argued that now represented the ideal time to begin a carbon reduction programme as the government's high-profile Act on CO2 campaign is set to raise the profile of carbon reduction measures amongst employees and customers.

The new TV ad debuted last night and features people undertaking everyday activities but leaving a sticky tar-like footprints behind them, all set to the song Shangri-La by the Kinks.

The campaign, which will be supported by print and online ads, focuses on simple changes people can take to reduce their carbon footprint, such as using less hot water and unplugging electronic chargers, and also urges them to assess their carbon footprint using DEFRA's new carbon calculator.

Defra argued such a campaign was necessary in the wake of recent government research which showed that while the majority of people regard climate change as a serious problem less than half are trying to limit their energy use, while just 14 and 6 percent respectively are trying to limit heating and water use.

With the advert set to be ubiquitous throughout the summer businesses would be wise to consider exploiting the government's investment as a powerful platform from which to launch their own carbon emission reduction initiatives.