Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions
&
Climate
Change
Carbon Dioxide, known chemically as CO2, is a greenhouse
gas forming part of the atmosphere
to help keep our planet warm by trapping the sun's
heat. A cold planet will not be suitable for
the kind of life we have now. But to much of
this in our atmosphere can have the opposite
effect, and as such rising temperatures are feared
to bring changes in weather systems around the
global, and hence climate change is
one of the greatest challenges ever to face humankind.
Natural CO2 is mainly released by the decay of plants,
volcanic eruptions and animal waste products. Once
released in the air, the gas is removed from
the atmosphere by plant photosynthesis and by
the oceans' water. Gaia
balances the production and conversion of this critical
gas to regulate life on earth according to a
cosmic clock.
Sadly, human's industrial revolution appears to have had some disastrous effects and devastating consequences
on this delicate balance. For instance, only two return flights from London to Moscow
produce a tonne of CO2. Optimistically speaking, the concentration of
CO2 in OUR atmosphere is predicted to reach twice the level of CO2 before
the industrial revolution by 2100; other, more daring, scenarios say
this could take place by 2050.
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What is Carbon Footprint?
A carbon footprint is the number of units of CO2 produced
by one person; generally averaging 10 tonnes per year in Western Europe.
In terms of countries, the UK produces about 500 million tonnes of CO2
a year.
What is Kyoto Agreement?
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).
It is an international agreement setting binding
targets for 37 industrialised countries to reduce their
emission of greenhouse gases by a mere 5% against
the 1990 levels over a five-year period from 2008 to 2012.
The protocol commits the participating developed countries to reduce
their emissions as a result of more than 150 years of industrial
activity.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on
the 11th of December 1997 and entered into force on the 16th
of February 2005. So far 183 countries have signed and ratified the Kyoto agreement, including the North African states: Libya, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
What is CO2 Offsetting?
It is not easy to provide a clear-cut answer to this question, but the following will attempt to explain the real issue.
Carbon Offsetting Versus Carbon Philanthropy:
This web page is neutral and does not favour any approach; it merely attempts to put before you, the reader and the traveller, all the available options and resources to enable you make a better decision regarding your carbon policy. However, it must be stated that funding little projects here and there to reduce energy consumption, such as offering free low-energy light bulbs, remains a distraction from the real issue: how to get airliners and people fly less. Reducing CO2 elsewhere as an answer to producing more where it hurts may not be the answer the planet really needs right now.
All claims regarding
"neutrality" and "zero-carbon"
are misleading to a certain extent. According
to our current technology one cannot eliminate or neutralise
the gases produced in the atmosphere, but can greatly reduce the amount produced in many ways. Cutting-down on many none-essential things, like lowering your thermostat by one degree or two, driving sensibly, and flying and driving
less are just a few great measures we can all permanently take.
- Carbon Offsetting services are offered by organisations, most of which are profit-based businesses or commercial companies. They use
some of the money they take from customers to fund environmental
projects and as such critics were quick to declare
that carbon offsetting is nothing more than paying
for the right to carry on emitting more carbon.
The proper solution, they argue, must come
from reducing the carbon emissions and not from
planting more trees or generating electricity
from wind turbines, because although these projects
do produce clean energy we need to reduce the amount
of CO2 released in the air. We say that the proper solution is to reduce the CO2 specifically produced by airplanes as well as by reducing elsewhere. To give you an idea of what and
how much is needed, a 60% cut in CO2 emissions by
2050 is required in the UK alone.
For example, some major airliners
pay millions of pounds towards
offsetting their carbon production, but continue
to operate the same number of flights, if not more.
Is this a game? Carbon offsetting initiatives are widely seen to
exert no visible pressure on the major suppliers
to reduce the carbon pollution they constantly produce. Many experts are increasingly bringing this issue to the open.
- Carbon Philanthropy, on the other hand, aims
to provide a non-profit alternative
to carbon offsetting via a number of
initiatives that tackle the travel-related
causes of climate change, and/or help the affected
local communities worldwide to cope with the
effects of climate change. Resulting increased droughts, starvation,
flooding and diseases will put greater pressure
on the agencies specialising on
disaster relief to seek urgent funding from charitable
sources because government aid is always
late, and often to late. Philanthropy programs support
these charities to fund their relief programs
as quickly as possible. Hence the etymology of philanthropy comes
from the Greek philanthropia,
from phil- (loving)
+ anthropos (man):
to love fellow human beings, and the best way
to expresses this love is to be there when disaster
strikes, rather than
pretend deaf and turn blind eye and speak targets and so on, never deliver, just promise, over and over again. Although the
supporters of carbon philanthropy emphasis the
non-profit nature of their work as opposed to
the profit-based carbon offsetting, critics say that there is
no evidence that carbon philanthropy has any measurable
impact on CO2 reduction either. In fact, it should not, because it does not say it has. What it does is help those affected by the disasters thought to have been caused by the excess CO2 produced; and therefore more people are increasingly finding it more responsible to house a homeless family whose home was swept away by a tsunami, rather than pay a rich company to plant some seedlings as an excuse to produce more CO2. Is this another case of Catch 22? No.
!
Before you part with anything,
read Friends of the Earth new report.
The report, "Finds that in practice offsetting
is not leading to global emissions
reductions or benefits to developing
countries. Instead, it is simply leading
to more ingenious ways to avoid cutting emissions."
Read the full report
(published by Friends of the Earth at
www.foe.co.uk).
Offsetting: A Dangerous Distraction
!!
According to the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/jun/16/climatechange.climatechange
"One of the biggest UK offsetters, Climate Care, which is used by the Guardian, distributed 10,000 energy-efficient lightbulbs in a South African township; offered the carbon reductions as offsets; and then discovered that an energy company was distributing the same kind of lightbulbs free to masses of customers, including their township, so the reduction would have happened anyway . . . Dan Welch, a Manchester journalist who investigated offsetters for Ethical Consumer magazine, summarised it neatly: "Offsets are an imaginary commodity created by deducting what you hope happens from what you guess would have happened."
Read full article here.
!!!
Also, Responsibletravel.com has made the important decision to remove carbon offsetting from responsibletravel.com in October 2008. They say in their website that their position is the same as that of Friends of the Earth, Oxford University Business School and The Committee on Climate Change: offsetting distracts from the real issues of reducing our carbon emissions as much as possible.
http://www.responsibletravel.com/Copy/Copy901646.htm
What Can You Really Do?
Paying money to fly nore and more does not really help at all.
You need to consider
reducing your daily emissions at home and at work as
well, and you even get to keep your money; and do this all the time and not only just before you travel! Please see
our full list of the things you can do to offset your CO2 and conserve energy.
Carbon Offsetting Projects:
If you do decide to take part in commercial carbon offsetting, then there are various projects relating to carbon offsetting,
most of which are associated with the following categories:
- Protection of rainforests & tree planting: buying and conserving rainforest
areas to reduce deforestation, and planting trees
to help reduce carbon dioxide by producing more oxygen.
- Solar power: producing electricity from sun light: it is free, plentiful
and clean. Domestic systems can save you hundreds
of pounds off your yearly electricity and gas bills.
- Solar thermal power: involves catching sunbeams, magnifying them, and
then using them to heat stored air or water.
- Hydro power: producing electricity using the energy inherent
in water, such as waves. Forcing water past the
blades of a turbine will force it to spin and thereby drive
electromagnetic generators that churn out electricity.
- Rain Power: Trapping rain
water in dams and then releasing it through turbines
produces electricity; although hydroelectric dams
are often controversial owing to their impact on
wildlife such as fish and other river
plants and animals, and owing to their impact on
human life as communities often were forced to abandon
their homes when areas upstream of the dam are deliberately
flooded.
- Wind power: producing electricity from wind energy is
clean.
- Biomass power: energy extracted from dead or living biological matter
and refuse.
- Employment: all the above
projects imply employing local people to benefit
the local communities.
Calculating CO2 Emissions &
Offsetting:
There are several carbon calculators available today.
Some programs are designed to calculate a specific
result for each destination, depending on various
factors such as distance traveled, number of passengers,
type of aircraft used, and so on. While there are
other programs based on
"Carbon Zoning", where the planet is divided into
several zones and where travellers can donate a specific
amount approximated on the mount of CO2 released by an
average flight to any of these zones.
There are those who strongly advise that the best approach is to offset your carbon yourself, because the best strategy they say is to reduce the consumption of energy and the release of harmful gases. Simply use one of the available calculators (see links at the bottom of this page) to calculate your CO2 used, and then take measures at home and at work to reduce your consumption of energy to cover the amount produced. There is no reason why not continue reducing for life. If however, you feel the need to pay the whole amount in one go, then you are advised to research the project to fund before you part with any money, because most likely that money is just an excuse to produce more CO2.
Useful Resources & CO2 Calculators:
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