Words by Smiley Team
Companies, local government, schools, charities, community groups and parishes are working together with social enterprise Giki to inform and help people across the UK to cut a tonne off their personal carbon footprint in 2021.
The initiative is supported by the UN High Level Champions for COP26 and its Race to Zero campaign. Personal behaviour change, particularly in high income countries, is a crucial step to reach the goal of Net Zero. Cut a Tonne in ’21 breaks this target into bite size, measurable, achievable chunks.
How individuals can get to Net Zero is detailed for the first time in “Reduce, Replace, Repair - A Practical Pathway for individuals to reach Net Zero” a report written by James Hand, co-founder of Giki and Dr Richard Carmichael of Imperial College London.
“Many of the everyday changes that cut carbon, also improve wellbeing and as this report shows, using a framework of Reduce, Replace, Repair, it is achievable by 2030 or sooner." Nigel Topping, UK High Level Climate Action Champion says.
"We believe that citizens and consumers can come together to choose a new future and we invite everybody to start now. You can use Giki Zero to Cut a Tonne in ’21, as your first step to reaching net zero, for a healthier, resilient zero carbon future for us all.”
Policy and business transformation is fundamental in order to reach national and international net zero targets. But individuals also play a major role. On a global basis, individuals account for almost three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions.
Report authors James Hand and Dr Richard Carmichael explain: “Whilst many people want to do the right thing they are often unsure about what “right” looks like, or what exactly to do.
The Reduce, Replace, Repair framework helps answer those questions by providing a practical pathway for individuals to reach Net Zero. It’s hugely encouraging that by taking the right steps people can dramatically cut their carbon footprints based on choices available today.”
Giki, the social enterprise behind the campaign, help people work out the best way for their lifestyle and budget to cut a tonne of carbon emissions from their day to day lives. Giki has built a science-based carbon footprint calculator that uses 32 footprint models, and over 10,000 variables, to help estimate an individual’s carbon, water and land footprints.
“The lead up to the opening of COP26 gives us all the time to find the most suitable ways to cut a tonne of our carbon equivalent emissions by its November 2021 opening in Glasgow." Professor Emeritus Tim O’Riordan of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia said.
The first tonne is the easy tonne for most of us, but for some it will be more difficult due to cost and degree of effort. So the cutting of a tonne is a communal task, shared with everyone and leading to a better world for everyone. If the whole of the United Kingdom can do this through joint but variable contributions, what a wonderful contribution that would be for the healthy future of this planet and its peoples.”
Anyone can get involved in there are three key steps that have been outlined.
To find out more about the challenge and to get involved with Giki's work, head to giki.earth
