by Ruwan Teodros

Hot take: I don’t think we can avoid the climate crisis anymore. This isn’t an assignment that we should procrastinate on completing until the night before.

The numbers are in, and we know a lot of the facts--it is time to change our behavior. From what we eat, to where we shop, or how we travel to places--there are numerous actions, both on a collective or individualistic basis, that can be taken in order to make a long-term difference in preventing climate breakdown. 

Have you ever considered how your transportation affects your carbon footprint? Every day, I am sure you are faced with a multitude of decisions. How will you travel to work to ensure the shortest and most affordable commute? To your child’s sports event? Will you fly or take a train/bus to a friend’s destination wedding? These are all important questions. They have been made even more important because every single choice will have an impact on our future climate. If you would like to see a more detailed comparison of different modes of transportation, you can read this analysis provided by Capture. 

Tourism accounts for 8% of global CO2 emissions, whilst transport accounts for 27% of all CO2 emissions within the EU. Whilst we all recognize the problem on a larger scale, it can be really difficult to understand the impact your personal daily transportation choices can have…

We have an option for you to consider--one that is simultaneously educational AND beneficial for the environment: A carbon emissions tracking app. Specifically, one called Capture. 

Capture will generate a footprint for you and analyze your impact, informing you of how choices could affect the world in the years to come. We know, we know--it sounds frightening, daunting, and negative, especially when the app tells you that if everyone had the same carbon footprint as yours, the earth could get 3 degrees celsius warmer in 10 years! Nevertheless, we think this is important information to have and will help our users think long and hard about the transportation choices they make. From there, you have the option to invest in three carbon offsetting projects in Panama, Taiwan, and North America. 

First, let’s discuss the major contributor of carbon emissions--flights. Flights produce large amounts of greenhouse gases - mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) - from burning fuel. These emissions contribute to global warming when released into the atmosphere, acting akin to a blanket around the world.

An economy-class return flight from London to New York emits an estimated 0.67 tonnes of CO2 per passenger, according to the calculator from the UN's civil aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Global carbon emissions from the aviation industry are increasing much faster than expected, with passenger numbers expected to double to 8.2 billion in 2037, and if left unchecked, pose a serious risk to the world’s climate efforts. 

“Flygskam” or “flight-shame” has become a more popular concept, with people starting to boycott flying in an attempt to reduce global carbon emissions and combat the climate crisis. Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenaged climate activist, has made it a point not to stop flying, and has very publicly denounced the aviation industry for its contribution to global emissions and warming.

The rise of flygskam, or ‘flight-shame’, has spurred airlines and travel companies to offer customers the option of offsetting the carbon emissions of their flights. But not everyone is convinced that climate sins can be absolved through projects based on simple carbon accounting.

This has pushed people to find solutions and seek out ways to remove, or balance out their carbon footprints through purchasing carbon credits - the process is often termed ‘carbon offsetting’ 

Carbon offsetting includes calculating greenhouse gas emissions from a trip or activity and then purchasing ‘carbon credits’ from projects that prevent or remove the equivalent amount of greenhouse gases elsewhere. It’s important to mention that many of these credits were created historically. Many carbon offsetting projects are typically either nature-based, or industrial - for example, a project could sell carbon credits based on CO2 absorbed by a protected forest, or alternatively through CO2 prevented from being produced by a renewable energy project.

Many airlines have pledged to offset their flights, including EasyJet, British Airways, and more recently, Delta and JetBlue in North America. British Airways said this year that it plans to start offsetting the carbon from all its domestic flights. For passengers traveling further afield BA offers a carbon calculator and a range of accredited offset schemes to invest in. 

Earlier this year, JetBlue announced that it will begin offsetting carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from jet fuel for all domestic JetBlue flights starting in July 2020, making it the first major U.S. airline to take this step towards reducing its contribution to global warming.

They’re not the only ones putting their faith in carbon offsetting. If you download and use Capture, you will find three offsetting projects in Panama, North America, and Taiwan that are based on a mix of reforestation, clean energy and carbon capture. Projects are verified predominantly by Gold Standard, which was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions featured the highest levels of environmental integrity and also contributed to sustainable development. 

I know carbon offsetting is flawed. The primary criticism of carbon offsetting is that it may do more harm than good by offering airlines a license to keep polluting and encouraging travelers to continue to choose the most polluting option guilt-free. Greenpeace UK described easyJet’s carbon offset scheme as “jumbo-size greenwash” and warned that expert analysis has cast serious doubts about whether offsetting schemes work at all. Instead, policymakers should put in place a frequent flier levy to curb the number of flights and their climate-wrecking emissions, Greenpeace said.

On an individual level, the risk of carbon offsetting is that people may believe they can avoid changing their lifestyle as long as they invest in carbon offsetting projects to counteract their emissions...

From the very beginning,  Capture was built with the goal in mind to enable our users to track and reduce their emissions. We know there are more and more online subscription offsetting services out there, but they wanted to build something helpful and empowering for individuals who want to actively learn more about - and most importantly - reduce emissions. 

In terms of how attractive Capture is to corporations and the marketability of sustainability...

70% of millennials recently said that if a company had a strong sustainability plan, it would affect their decision to stay long term. Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025. Sustainability is no longer a 'nice-to-have' for organizations, and at Capture, a tool has been created to help companies engage their employees in the sustainability agenda in a meaningful, impactful way.

Dr. Matt Johnson, professor at Hult International Business School and founder of neuromarketing blog Pop Neuro, says, "There is accumulating evidence that consumers are impacted by the perceived sustainability of a brand, and further, that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products from a sustainable brand over a non-sustainable competitor brand." 

Furthermore, a 2019 survey led by Hotwire found that 47% of internet users worldwide had ditched products and services from a brand that violated their personal values. Protecting the environment topped that list.

NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business also recently completed extensive research into U.S. consumers’ actual purchasing of consumer packaged goods (CPG), finding 50% of CPG growth from 2013-2018 came from sustainability-marketed products. 

Capture enables organizations to track, reduce & remove CO2 emissions from corporate travel. We help teams bring the capture app to their employees, making it easy for them to track scope 3 mobility-related emissions in real time through our dashboard, along with engaging employees in the sustainability agenda in a fun and satisfying way.

Young professionals, millennials, business-owners, and whoever is fortunate enough to have stumbled upon this highly informative article, take a look at Capture. Take a look at other carbon emissions calculators. Think about your impact. Make that change.