As you are probably aware the idea of a ‘Personal Carbon Footprint’ was popularised by BP (British Petroleum) in 2005. Their purpose was to shift public perception about the causes of global warming from industry to individuals. And to a significant extent it worked!
There is an uncomfortable truth that if everyone in the world recycled 100% of all the things that could be recycled and reduced their personal carbon footprints down to zero we would still be in a very big mess and unable to stop catastrophic global warming. As 71% of global emissions since 1988 have been emitted by just 100 companies the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would continue to rise.
So does that mean that we should do nothing and just blame ‘big business’ for the problem? No. But they are mostly to blame.
There is a gordian knot about personal carbon footprints.
On the one hand, reducing your own footprint will have a very small impact upon how the climate develops and the more people that do this, the bigger the impact. Which has got to be good right? Not necessarily.
Personal carbon footprints may make the problem of global warming worse. If we think we are ‘doing our bit’, we may think that all is good and we will eventually get this problem sorted. This attitude can actually make us complacent and prevent us from taking the real necessary action needed to keep global warming to a manageable and survivable level for our children and grandchildren. Becoming aware of the enormity of the problems we now face as a species may even make us fatalistic and decide to just give up and get on with our lives. To some extent this is what the big polluters want you to do.
So is paying attention to your personal carbon footprint a red herring? To some extent. But we need to take action on our own personal terms to signal to companies and governments that this is something we care about. We also need to start using our economic power and votes. I am afraid that switching to paper drinking straws and voting Conservative just wont cut it!
Choosing the ‘green option’ will help, although this can be more expensive. Your vote has a value and is the best way to signal to governments that this is an important issue they need to pay attention to. I dont agree with the Green Party on all the issues, and to a certain extent a vote for them in our constituency is a wasted vote, but I am considering voting for them as a way of signalling my concern to those in power.
According to the Carbon Majors Database the top 10 global polluting companies are:
- China Coal 14.3 %
- Saudi Aramco 4.5 %
- Gazprom OAO 3.9 %
- National Iranian Oil Co 2.3 %
- ExxonMobil Corp 2.0 %
- Coal India 1.9 %
- Petróleos Mexicanos 1.9 %
- Russia Coal 1.9 %
- Royal Dutch Shell PLC 1.7 %
- China National Petroleum Corp 1.6 %
The common factor with all the above (Coal, Gas & Oil) is energy. For example China Coal use most of their coal to produce electricity and energy for factories that are producing the cheap consumer goods that we buy every day. To some extent we are dependent upon these large polluters for our standard of living. We as individuals need to ween ourselves off the cheap and easy options. But these choices don’t always mean they have to be more expensive.
Choosing a green energy tariff can actually save you money. Octopus currently is about £1000 cheaper the OVO Energy for electricity over the year. Moving to a green tariff also sends a signal to the electricty generating industry as a whole. The industry will adapt over time to prevailing demands of the consumers. That is if we make the choice to move suppliers to the greener option.
The next time you consider buying a car, look at buying an electric model. This is not always suitable for people without offstreet parking but in those instances choose the most effiecient petrol model you can afford. Our economic behaviour sends signals to those providing the goods and services we use every day. Being mindful of the choices we make can, over time, have a siginificant effect.
So in a way, we need to thank BP for highlighting that we, as individuals, do have the power to make a difference. It is just up to us to weild it!
