Let’s talk about your climate shadow instead.

Problems

• The idea of a carbon footprint was invented by the fossil fuel industry to shift responsibility from them onto us
• Individual actions make an almost negligible difference, and more importantly, we can't really control our share of carbon-emitting infrastructure
  • Not even mentioning fossil fuel lobbies..
• Countries can “offload” emissions onto developing / manufacturing nations
  • This is the main reason the UK’s emissions have decreased.
• It makes people feel guilty for something that was forced onto them by money-crazed machines of corporations
• People could focus on small feel-good climate changes (like walking or cycling) rather than demanding radical changes from the government

Solutions

• Enter the climate shadow
  • Present example of flying climate scientist vs. walking oil advertiser
  • A more well-rounded view - both direct carbon impacts and indirect:
    • Teaching or activism - positive
    • Lobbying or advertising fossil fuels - negative
  • Climate shadow takes into account both carbon emissions from lifestyle but also what you invest your money in, how you vote, where you work, how much you talk about climate change and much more
    • This makes it harder to calculate, but it's about the thought, not a hard number
  • Three parts of climate shadow
    • Consumption
      • Direct - aircon, fast shipping
      • Indirect - participating in consumer culture
    • Choices:
      • What we do with money
      • How many pets and kids
      • What company we work for
    • Attention
      • Climate action
      • Speaking out
      • Protesting
  • You don't need to worry about your exact carbon footprint - but you should still be eco-friendly, but remember to focus on the big picture - systemic change.

    • The top 5 things to do to reduce climate impact are

      1. One fewer child
      2. Car-free
      3. Green energy
      4. Avoid plane travel
      5. Eat plant-based (and support sustainable agriculture)

      Extra: Vote for climate action

    • Evaluate your climate shadow rather than calculating your footprint

Links

Forget your carbon footprint. Let's talk about your climate shadow.

https://youtu.be/1J9LOqiXdpE

Big oil coined 'carbon footprints' to blame us for their greed. Keep them on the hook | Rebecca Solnit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92t8np88fEI