How to cut carbon pollution

Climate change is a global problem whose main cause is greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. To avoid dangerous climate change we have to cut carbon pollution everywhere, as fast as possible (see www.squidoo.com/cutcarbon).

Carbon pollution comes from individuals, businesses and government. The only way we are going to successfully avoid dangerous climate change is if these three groups - individuals, businesses and governments - can work together. To use a football analogy, we need a successful carbon football league. The league is successful when everyone is contributing to the game. The game being avoiding dangerous climate change.

For any successful football league you need players, you need facilities such as playing grounds and equipment such as boots and balls, and you need a rules book and referees. You also need teams and coaches, but more on these later.

In our carbon football league lets consider individual to be the players, the facilities and equipment to be provided by businesses, and governments to be the referees.

Carbon pollution comes from individuals:
Who drive cars
Who use natural gas or oil for heating
Who use electricity generated by coal, gas, or oil fired power stations
Who fly in air planes

Carbon pollution comes from businesses and organisations:
Whose operation causes emissions in a similar way that individuals do (eg use fossil fuel based energy to manufacture and power operations, move goods by plane and truck, etc)
Who thus provide products that contain "embedded" carbon and which may also generate carbon when used by the purchaser (eg a motor car).

Carbon pollution comes from governments:
Who use energy just as described above for corporations and individuals.
Whose rules force corporations and individuals to use greater or lesser amounts of carbon sourced energy.

For our carbon football league to function, the players - that is each of us as individuals - need to be making choices that minimise our personal carbon footprints. Businesses need to making choices that minimise the amount of carbon embodied and used in the products and services they provide. And governments need to set up and enforce game rules that enable the league to function effectively. That is - to cut the world's carbon dramatically and quickly.

Individuals need to play ball if we are to reduce global carbon emissions. Some of us will do so voluntarily, others of us may just need to be forced to by the rules of the game.

Everyday each of us makes decisions that have carbon consequences. From small decisions such as what temperature we set the thermostat at, to larger decisions such as where do I live. The thermostat setting (or do you leave it off?) effects the amount of energy needed to heat or cool. The decision as to where you live influences how far you travel each year, the main mode of travel (eg car vs bicycle), and thus your carbon emissions from personal travel.

Do these decisions make a difference? Yes and no.

Yes, every tonne of carbon you save is important.

No, your carbon savings won't make a difference however if others are making decisions that result in additional carbon pollution. Which is why all individuals need to be in the game. And why businesses and organisations need to make it easier to play the game (so, for example that cars don't use fossil fuels). And why governments need to make rules that make it very hard not to play the game (eg limits to new vehicle carbon emissions that ratchet down quickly).

So as an individual how do you help humanity avoid dangerous climate change?

First - make yourself conscious of the carbon consequences of all your decisions. For example - from the type of light bulbs in your home, to how long you use the lights for each day, to the number of lights in use. Some decisions have more of an impact that others. You may put energy efficient light bulbs in your bathroom, but then flying off on an overseas holiday will produce much more carbon than you've saved on your bathroom lighting. Therefore be sure you are informed about the carbon consequences of your decisions.

Second - and this may be harder or easier depending on your personality - expect the businesses who provide you products and services to cut their carbon. And expect your government to make rules that force everyone to play the carbon conservation game. Translate your expectations into actions - for example with your vote.

Businesses and the products and services they provide produce carbon emissions to lesser or greater degrees.

Businesses make decisions that have carbon consequences too. As with households businesses should be aware of the carbon consequences of their decisions. For example a retailer that chooses to air freight products will produce more carbon that a competitor who sea freights.

Depending on the size of your business, your decisions are likely to have a much greater carbon impact than decisions made by individuals. And your choices can also make it a lot easier for individuals who buy what you provide to reduce their personal carbon footprint.

To our football analogy, imagine that in this football league there is a scarcity of boots. Some players compete in bare feet. The league in imbalanced. Analogous to a boot maker would be a provider of renewable energy. Just as the quality of play in the league will greatly improve if everyone can get boots, the more renewable energy providers we have, and the more choice individuals have, the easier it is for every individual to reduce their personal carbon footprint

So as a business owner or employee how do you help humanity avoid dangerous climate change?

Firstly, you become aware of the carbon consequences of your actions. Do a carbon inventory, then figure out how you can reduce it. Depending on where you operate, you may, for example, choose to purchase electricity generated solely by renewable sources.

Secondly, and this is a very tough call, question the usefulness of your business to the planet. Should your product or service be made at all? Over the last ten years the camera film industry has all but disappeared, made obsolescent by digital cameras. A carbon constrained planet means that some industries must become obselescent if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. For example, car engines that burn fossil fuels.

Thirdly, be a voice in your industry calling for carbon measurement and standards. Set metrics annually and push them down annually. For example, if you make widgets, set a target to reduce the carbon emissions per widget by 50% over the next three years. Label your products with their embodied carbon emissions so the individuals who buy your products are aware of the carbon consequences.

Finally, expect your suppliers to improve their carbon performance. And expect the governments where you operate to enforce carbon labelling and introduce other measures that force carbon savings in your sector which mean that you aren't at an economic disadvantage by taking the lead.

As a politician or a public servant great responsibility rests on your shoulders. The bigger your country's carbon footprint, the bigger your responsibility.

As with individuals and businesses, many of your decisions have carbon consequences. These include both the carbon consequences of the operation of government, and the consequences of your policies and laws.

In Australia for example, a perverse quirk of the taxation system means that individuals who use a company car are rewarded for driving large vehicles for long distances. It is not unknown for people for whom it is more convenient to catch the train to work to drive because of these incentives.

In our football analogy you are the rule maker. If a football league existed without any rules, it simply wouldn't work. It would be anarchy on the field. Those who chose to play by a voluntary set of rules could simply be trampled over by those playing to no rules. And that, unfortunately, is where most of the world's countries are now. Governments all agree that we must do something about climate change. But there are few countries who have put any rules in place that force carbon cuts. And certainly there is no international agreement yet that are enforceable right around the globe. In other words, a widget maker in one country using (more expensive) renewable energy to make their widgets may be at a competitive disadvantage to a widget maker in another country whose manufacture is powered by (low cost) coal.

So as a government how can you help us avert dangerous climate change?

Firstly approach your operations as outlined above for a business. Be aware of the carbon consequences of your decisions.

Second, you need to make it easy for your citizens and business operating in your juristiction to cut their carbon and hard for them to not to cut their carbon. You have to make some rules for the game, and enforce them. This might include a cap and trade system, whereby annually you set a cap on the carbon major emittors are allowed to produce (such as power stations), and lower the cap annually. Or you may simply legislate a carbon rationing scheme. Businesses and individuals are issued a carbon ration, which decreases each year towards a target. Individual and businesses can trade part of their ration if they have a surplus. You should certainly look at mandated carbon labelling of products, so individuals and businesses can make informed choices.

Thirdly, you must collaborate with other governments around the world, to enable global carbon reduction in an equitable way. Global warming can only be resolved by greatly cutting global carbon emissions as soon as possible. Back to the football analogy - we need a global football league, with rules that apply globally.

We will not avoid dangerous climate change for example if the EU cuts its emissions by half while the USA doubles its carbon emissions. Therefore as a government you should be prepared to advocate for and make decisions which mean that those who don't play ball lose badly. These could be trade related decisions, particularly if you are a country with large buying power. You need to be prepared to take climate change science seriously and aim to cut the carbon ASAP. And you need to be prepared to assume responsibility according to your relative contribution to the problem.

In football teams are comprised of groups of players who compete against each other. Coaches direct their teams.

My football analogy breaks down a bit here because averting dangerous climate change requires great collaboration on a global scale, and not competition. Which is why I've made governments the rule makers and referees, not the teams. Governments must collaborate together to cut the carbon.

The teams in the carbon league I think are those individuals and businesses who come together to create great low carbon products and services. For example, those in the renewable power industry could be considered a team, or several teams. They are all in the league fighting fossil fuel power. But they compete with each other within the league in finding the best alternatives to fossil fuels and bringing them to the market the fastest at the lowest possible cost.

Who then are the coaches? Again this doesn't fit that easily into my football league analogy. But I believe the coaches are the media. The media is very powerful. In countries where climate change and global warming is often or always in the media the governments eventually will follow. For example, in the year or so before the election in November 2007 climate change was a prominent issue in all media. As a result of this I believe it became a major election issue.

In this analogy the coaches actually can influence the rules of the game, as well as making players and service and product providers want to get into the game.

So if you are in the media - you have a very important role in the game, in getting interest in the great carbon cutting league and in catalysing the formation of effective rules.