According to a famous business slogan, "You can't manage what you can't measure." As we ramp up our efforts to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change, this can help explain why carbon emissions are under more scrutiny.
A way of measuring the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during a product's creation, use and disposal has become a household term. You can find a lot of data on the footprint of cars, electricity generation, education, countries, and more with a lot of carbon footprint calculator online.
The reality is less clear and this might seem to benefit our efforts to tread lightly on the planet. The influence oil companies have on the carbon footprint was highlighted in an article last year.
The main message was that the idea of measuring personal carbon footprints was originally promoted by oil giant BP to shift the burden of action from fossil fuel companies.
This tactic worked well. People began to rank free carbon footprinting tools for ease, accuracy and reliability. The calculator by the World Wildlife Fund tells me my footprint in tons, as well as which parts of my lifestyle contribute to it.
The breakdown of my carbon footprint is here. The WWF. The author is provided.
My footprint is relatively low compared to others in the UK. I work in sustainable living so I keep my heating down, I use solar panels to generate electricity, and I try to walk as much as I can.
To avoid the worst effects of climate change, my footprint needs to get smaller quickly. The message is being sent by many NGOs, politicians and climate activists.
It may no longer be possible for anyone to make changes great enough to reverse the damage already done. In a world where only 100 companies are responsible for 71 percent of global emissions, we need a complete redesign of the carbon-intensive systems around us.
The idea of the carbon footprint was developed from an environmental management methodology. It was one of the first ways to measure the impact of a product over its lifetime, helping companies manage their spending on materials and energy.
Coca-Cola developed these tools in the 1970s to help them cut energy use during the energy crisis caused by the unrest in the Middle East.
As disposable products became more common, and litter became an associated problem, company marketing began to focus on using footprints to allocate personal responsibility rather than taking producer responsibility, an approach more common in EU legislation and policy.
The tools are not bad in themselves. Good design choices are made when building technology. It is increasingly used to help ensure that we do not create new problems while trying to solve climate change through innovation. The problem is that when these tools are applied to individuals, it takes the heat off the companies who have been driving the climate crisis for decades.
Hot spots of carbon emission can be identified and addressed with the help of these tools. They can be used to show where we can most effectively reduce the negative effects of plastic proliferation by increasing recycling.
Global businesses can use carbon footprint analysis to see where their carbon outputs are coming from. A recent report shows how the footprints of ten of the largest tech companies are caused by their investments in the fossil fuel industry, leading to calls for the companies to sell their fossil fuel investments.
We should not completely disengage ourselves from responsibility. Carbon footprints can still be used to assess our own purchases.
Carbon footprint calculations should be used by industries and governments to prove that they are making the necessary changes to cut emissions and keep more carbon in the ground.
Making footprints public could put financial and legislative pressure on companies and systems with the greatest climate influence. The carbon footprint has real power and should be aimed where it will be most effective.
Professor of Energy and Environmental Engineering at the University of Bath.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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