Personal Carbon Footprint Research Articles

Underestimation of personal carbon footprint inequality in four diverse countries

AbstractExtensive research highlights global and within-country inequality in personal carbon footprints. However, the extent to which people are aware of these inequalities remains unclear. Here we use an online survey distributed across four diverse countries: Denmark, India, Nigeria and the USA, to show widespread underestimation of carbon footprint inequality, irrespective of participants’ country and income segment. Of the 4,003 participants, within each country, 50% of participants were sampled from the top 10% income group. Our results show links between carbon footprint inequality perceptions and climate policy support, but with significant variations observed across the four countries and with participants’ income segments. Furthermore, there are links to the perceived fairness of actual carbon footprint inequality, highlighting the need to raise awareness about carbon footprint inequality and further unpack its implications for climate justice and policy.

Birth Strikes, Climate Responsibility, and Hannah Arendt

Abstract Many people today are concerned about the implications of climate change for their personal reproductive decisions. Some have transformed such concerns into activism by engaging in a “birth strike” and publicly announcing their decision not to procreate because of climate change. This article draws on Hannah Arendt to examine the political meaning and significance of birth strikes. It makes three basic points. First, by highlighting the human condition of being born, what Arendt called natality, birth strikes have illuminated a distinctive set of threats and possibilities for climate politics. Second, due to modern consumerism and instrumentalism, which Arendt saw as the dominance of labor and work over action, birth strikes have been misperceived as advocating a reduction in personal carbon footprints and global population growth. Third, birth strikes have clarified some of the challenges for efforts to link the individual and collective dimensions of climate responsibility.

Pioneering historical LCA - A perspective on the development of personal carbon footprint 1860–2020 in Denmark

Mitigating climate change by reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is considered an urgent challenge for society. In this context, different philosophies exist. A classic debate, referred to as “boomsters vs. doomsters”, asks whether humanity's drive for technological innovations will mitigate climate change, or whether it is justifiable to compromise our living standards, affluence, and consumption patterns. A Danish research project has elucidated this topic through cross-collaboration between historians and engineers by quantifying the personal consumption-based carbon footprint (CF) of Danish citizens, taking into account the consumption segments of food, transport, housing, and furniture. Quantification is conducted through life-cycle assessments (LCA) of five decadal timesteps during the period 1860–2020. As only one other study conducting historical (retrospective) LCA with an extensive time horizon was identified in the scientific literature, our own study provides novel insights by exploring possible approaches in this field. Historical LCA has many similarities with prospective (future) LCA, providing inspiration to the approach. The main challenge of the study is to adjust both foreground and background systems in the inventory modelling phase. Data is largely based on national statistics, books, museum case studies, expert testimonials, and proxies such as using the steam turbine as an indicator of improvements to technological efficiency over time. The results show a slightly declining carbon footprint in the period 1860–1930, from 7.7 to 6.6 t CO2-eq per capita annually. Unsurprisingly the footprint peak is not found until the 1970s, at 11 t, reducing to 5.4 t in the 2010s. The residential energy consumption segment contributes half of this CF, followed by transportation by road and rail. Discussion of the results shows that whether technology can mitigate the impact from the increase in affluence depends on the specific consumption segment. For housing combined with residential energy, the results show that technology can mitigate increases in CF, despite the comforts of home having only increased over time. For the transportation segment, however, the past century has seen an eightfold increase in CF due to the pronounced evolution of personal modes of transportation. The findings suggests that the “boomsters vs. doomsters” debate is not so black and white after all. We further suggest that historical LCA, in tandem with prospective LCA, can provide valuable insights for decision support to facilitate a green transition and hence a green future.

Climate Change and Environmentally Sustainable Kidney Care in Canada: A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey of Kidney Care Providers.

Climate change impacts health and threatens the stability of care delivery systems, while healthcare is mobilizing to reduce its significant environmental impact. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about climate change among Canadian kidney care providers. An electronic KAP survey, created by the Canadian Society of Nephrology-Sustainable Nephrology Action Planning committee, was distributed to kidney care providers across Canada, from March to April 2023. A total of 516 people responded to the survey. Most respondents (79%) identified as women; 83% were aged 30 to 59 years. Nurses and nephrologists made up 44% and 23% of respondents, respectively. About half of the participants felt informed about climate change to an average degree. Most respondents (71%; 349/495 and 62%; 300/489) were either extremely or very concerned about climate change and waste generated in their kidney care program, respectively. The vast majority of respondents (89%; 441/495) reported taking steps to lower their personal carbon footprint. People who felt more informed about climate change presented higher degrees of concern. Similarly, both those who felt more informed and those who reported higher degrees of concern about climate change were more likely to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Over 80% of respondents (314/386) were at least moderately interested in learning sessions about environmentally sustainable initiatives in care. This survey is at risk of social acceptability, representative, and subjective bias. Overrepresentation from Quebec and British Columbia, as well as the majority of respondents identifying as women and working in academic centers, may affect generalizability of the findings. Most kidney care providers who responded to this survey are informed and concerned about climate change, and their knowledge is directly associated with attitude and practices. This indicates that educational initiatives to increase awareness and knowledge on climate change will likely lead to practice changes.

A3‘I have had an epiphany’ student nurses’ reflections on their carbon footprint in simulation

Healthcare delivery is a major contributor to the climate crisis, producing 4.4% of net carbon global emissions today [1]. The campaign ‘For a Greener NHS’ launched in 2020 set a road map for the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to reach net-zero emissions for patient care by 2040 [2]. However, to achieve this, staff must be carbon literate and start by understanding the impact of their own professional practice. It follows, therefore, that carbon literacy education must be a priority for healthcare educators. There is to date no research on educating student nurses on carbon literacy or the personal carbon footprints of their practice. Using simulation could provide an innovative solution providing a system-thinking environment that could connect carbon emissions theory to actual practice and develop carbon literacy. The aim of the study was to explore student nurses’ reflections on their carbon footprint of resources used in simulation and identify the potential role of simulation in developing carbon literacy. This study used qualitative phenomenographic methodology, underpinned by transformational learning theory to explore student nurses’ awareness and attitudes towards their carbon emissions from simulation. Ten participants were asked to log the clinical resources used during a venepuncture and cannulation simulation skills station. Carbon emissions were then calculated for each participant using the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare [3] carbon emissions calculation and were shown to students during one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was conducted, discovering the different ways participants conceptualized their carbon footprint. Students were unaware and shocked by their carbon emissions from resource use in simulation and wanted to be better educated to enable them to make an informed choice to practise sustainably. Students highlighted the crucial role of simulation educators to educate students using simulation but to role model sustainable practice and design low resource-use simulation. Finally, students were able to connect the impact of their personal clinical practice to the global climate crisis. Simulation is a powerful teaching approach to develop carbon literacy, challenging students’ pre-existing knowledge, and enabling them to link their personal practice to the global climate-change crisis. The authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.

The city within the global: A framework for the simultaneous estimation of city emissions metrics

In line with national targets, sub-national governments – including cities – are introducing targets to reduce the emissions associated with economic activity within or associated with a particular geography. Cities are important drivers of not only emissions but also economic activity and are embedded into complex economic systems which reach beyond their boundaries, which can raise major issues in identifying whether a city is assisting in promoting sustainability across a wider spatial level. This paper sets out a methodology to downscale global Input Output tables to city-level and use these to calculate production- (territorial) and consumption-based carbon accounts at the city level simultaneously. Illustrating this for the case of Glasgow, Scotland, we show that the city's territorial emissions are significantly lower than its consumption-based carbon footprint (considering both the Areal and Personal Carbon Footprint), but that both metrics are sensitive to assumptions about the emissions intensity of individual sectors. Our results highlight the importance of data quality and accuracy, and the benefits of local knowledge, rather than the unquestioned use of national metrics.

The spatial distribution of carbon footprints and engagement in pro-climate behaviors – Trends across urban-rural gradients in the nordics

Climate change mitigation to the 1.5 °C calls for significant and extensive climate actions. Nordic countries are showing high engagement to climate change mitigation while the consumption and lifestyle-based carbon footprints are among the global highest. Majority of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are connected to household consumption where various behavioral changes have been presented in order to reduce the personal carbon footprints. Previous research has shown how behaviors are connected to the living environment and urban structure, which have shown having an impact in forming variations in our lifestyles and behavioral patterns. In this study, with a survey dataset of ∼8000 respondents across the five Nordic countries, the engagement of respondents to different climate and carbon mitigation actions were analyzed and linked to their calculated carbon footprints. Three types of behavioral clusters were found among the respondents, one presenting conscious pro-climate behavior, one relating to frugality behavior, and one cluster related to self-sufficient behavior. The pro-climate behavioral intentions were present more in urbanized areas together with high climate motivation, whereas frugality behavior was level across the urban gradient, and finally respondents from less urbanized areas emphasized self-sufficient behavior. The stated behavioral intentions of the respondents were in contrast to their carbon footprints. Carbon footprints related to leisure consumption were highest in the urban regions and everyday consumption related footprints in the rural regions. Interestingly, only frugality behavior was associated with lower carbon footprints both in everyday and leisure consumption categories, whereas climate conscious behavior was positively related to leisure consumption footprint but negatively related to everyday consumption. The findings emphasize the variation of lifestyles based on different actions in different urban forms where the engagement to climate change mitigation presents differently. The results underline the importance of understanding the role that the built environment plays in being linked to the behavioral patterns and the need to increase the knowledge of the climate impacts of behavioral choices.

The complex relationship between carbon literacy and pro-environmental actions among engineering students

Lifestyle choices and consumption play a large role in contributing to per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Certain activities, like fossil fuel ground transportation, long-haul flights, diets with animal products and residential heating and cooling contribute significantly to per capita emissions. There is uncertainty around whether literacy about these actions encourages individuals to act pro-environmentally to reduce personal carbon footprints or to prioritize the most effective actions. This study investigated the relationship between carbon literacy and pro-environmental actions performed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among undergraduate engineering students at the University of Toronto. The pro-environmental actions by the participants produced an average carbon footprint of 4.8 tCO2 (within the subset of actions included in the survey) which was lower than the average for residents each of Toronto, Ontario, and Canada overall but still higher than the global target of ∼2.8 tCO2e. The carbon literacy by participants was best for high impact actions like ground transportation and dietary choices but less so for air travel and there was mixed awareness for the moderate and low impact actions. For high impact actions and many moderate and low impact actions, participants who thought the action was high impact (even if incorrect) had lower carbon footprints related to the associated activity than those who thought the action was moderate or low impact. The overall relationship between pro-environmental action and carbon literacy was weak. It showed that for high impact actions, there is a slight negative correlation between carbon literacy and personal carbon footprint whereas for moderate and low impact actions, there is a positive correlation.

An approach to acquiring knowledge of the personal carbon footprint in Cartagena, in the Colombian Caribbean region

Abstract CO2 is the main greenhouse gas due to the large volumes emitted by anthropogenic activities, which is why it is necessary to implement strategies that allow the identification of potential sources of CO2 emissions in order to design and implement strategies to reduce them. The aim of this research was to estimate the personal carbon footprint in the city of Cartagena. Through the use of a calculator available on the web and the use of social networks, the personal carbon footprint was estimated and its relationship with some sociodemographic and spatial aspects was characterized. The carbon footprint of the inhabitants of Cartagena varies between 0.4 and 17.6 TonEquivCO2 per year, in addition, there were no differences in terms of sex and age groups. On the other hand, the personal carbon footprint at the spatial level is relatively homogeneous, with a slight distribution of values greater than 9 TonEquivCO2 in the area where people with a lower socioeconomic status live. The results suggest the need to prioritize strategies to reduce the carbon footprint in these places.

Determination of personal carbon footprint in aviation and tourism axis: Cappadocia Airport case

Global average temperatures are increasing in direct proportion to the increase in carbon dioxide. A significant part of this increase comprises the aviation and tourism sectors. In particular, the rapid growth of the aviation industry and its relationship with tourism development constitutes an indispensable problem for the future in the fight against the climate crisis. In this study, it has been revealed that the aviation industry is not innocent at all regarding the climate crisis when combined with tourism. The study examined flights’ average personal carbon footprint to Cappadocia Airport between 2016 and 2019. The Cappadocia region stands out because it is an important tourism region of Turkey and is located right in the middle of Turkey. In the review, 2019 was the period with the highest emissions of 27,464.08 tons CO2. On the other hand, 2017 was the year that emitted the least, with 8121.29 tons CO2. The personal carbon footprint from total flights was 61,951 kg CO2. While the individual carbon footprint was the highest in 2016 with 70,617 kg CO2, 2019 was the year with the lowest personal carbon footprint with 56,419 kg CO2. As a result, while there is a direct proportion between the number of flights and the total increase in carbon dioxide, the personal carbon footprint has changed according to the number of passengers. Transportation preferences should be reviewed considering the location of the Cappadocia region and Turkey’s transportation policy.

Moderate support for the use of digital tracking to support climate-mitigation strategies

The use of digital tracking of individuals throughout the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic renewed societal debates on the efficacy and ethics of digital surveillance to mitigate collective crises. While digital emissions tracking is being used to support climate-mitigation strategies, to date there has been limited exploration of the opportunities and challenges of deploying it at the individual level. Here, we assess temporal and regional differences in levels of support for the use of digital surveillance in times of crisis, such as climate change. Results from a global survey indicate moderate support for the use of digital tracking, including for personal carbon footprints. Response varied regionally, with the lowest support in North America and Europe. This study raises key questions—if digital surveillance tools could be part of a socially acceptable response to the climate crisis, is it worth exploring? Or is this an unacceptable risk for society?

Air pollution: What is it and what we must do

There is widespread misunderstanding of air pollution and its effects in the media. This relates to the complexities of studying and reporting on the issue - multiple different associated pollutants and diverse reported toxic effects. This article explains what air pollution is and how it may affect health, from heart to brain. It then explains, using Scotland as an example, how pollution can be reduced to levels at which public health effects become small but that, because of its close causative link with climate change, both government action and, especially, our individual responses to the issue are still urgently necessary. The medical profession is urged to set an example by reducing personal carbon footprints.

Examining the Relationships between Religious Affiliation, External and Internal Behavioural Factors, and Personal Carbon Footprint

Different studies have shown that daily consumption is responsible for a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Since consumption is closely linked to individuals’ preferences, motivations, and beliefs, the personal carbon footprint should be a good indicator of actual consumers’ commitments towards climate change mitigation. Previous research has shown the importance of considering individual-level religion as an antecedent of mitigation outcomes, although the evidence is inconclusive in this regard. This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation and personal carbon footprint, following socio-psychological models that consider behaviour to depend on external or situational factors, and internal or intrinsic ones. A questionnaire was carried out on a random sample of the Spanish population (N = 845) to determine the main drivers of carbon footprint for different religious groups. External factors (i.e., socioeconomic) and internal ones related to climate change knowledge, commitment, and intractability, on the one hand, and value orientation, nature-relatedness, and the main motivation to conserve nature on the other hand, were analysed. Intergroup differences in the personal carbon footprint were found, especially based on sex, age group, and type of work among external factors and value orientation, the main motivation for conserving nature and climate change perceived commitment within the internals. Intragroup differences for food carbon footprint were also observed, as follows: the main motivation to conserve nature and the level of commitment implied differences among Catholic believers, whereas value orientation and the level of commitment implied differences among non-believers. Our conclusions suggest, on the one hand, the importance of examining the religion-mitigation link in a socio-psychological framework and, on the other, the need for further study within groups to promote better behavioural responses to climate change.

Nudging Consumers Toward Greener Air Travel by Adding Carbon to the Equation in Online Flight Search

This study explores the potential to promote lower-emissions air travel by providing consumers with information about the carbon emissions of alternative flight choices in the context of online flight search and booking. We surveyed over 450 employees of the University of California, Davis, asking them to choose among hypothetical flight options for university-related business trips. Emissions estimates for flight alternatives were prominently displayed alongside cost, layovers, and airport, and the lowest-emissions flight was labeled “Greenest Flight.” We found an impressive rate of willingness to pay for lower-emissions flights: around $200/ton of CO2e saved, a magnitude higher than that seen in carbon offsets programs, and consistent with findings from a prior study with a non-university-based sample. In a second step of analysis, we estimated the carbon and cost impacts if the university were to adopt a flight-search interface that prioritizes carbon emissions information and displays alternatives from multiple regional airports in their employee travel-booking portal. We estimated potential annual savings of 79 tons of CO2e, while reducing airfare costs by $56,000, mainly through an increased willingness of travelers to take advantage of cheaper nonstop (lower-emissions) flights from a more distant airport in the region over indirect flights from their preferred airport for medium-distance flights. Institutionalizing this strategy within organizations with large travel budgets could reduce personal and organizational carbon footprints. If implemented across major flight-search engines, it could potentially reduce the demand for higher-emissions flights, leading to an industry-wide impact on aviation emissions.

Interventions to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Medicines: A UK perspective✰

Many doctors are taking steps to reduce their personal carbon footprints, but few know how to tackle the high environmental impact of the care they provide at work. In particular, many are unaware of the wider impacts of medications we prescribe. Health and care services produce around 5% of the United Kingdom's total CO2 and the largest part of this comes from its supply chain - medicines and equipment. In addition to carrying a significant carbon footprint, pharmaceuticals have wide-ranging environmental impacts. Effluents from production and usage have been shown to have a damaging effect on wildlife and contribute to antimicrobial resistance. This article examines the ways in which healthcare professionals can intervene to reduce pharmaceutical pollution.

Links between Climate Change Knowledge, Perception and Action: Impacts on Personal Carbon Footprint

The current understanding of determinants of climate action and mitigation behaviour is largely based on measures of climate change including concerns, attitudes and beliefs. However, few studies have shown the actual effects of external and internal drivers on citizens’ lifestyles related to climate change, particularly in terms of their carbon footprint (CF). A questionnaire (N = 845) assessing the impact of potential explanation factors for personal CF was carried out in Spain. The study showed the importance of better understanding the factors affecting citizen’s consumption and climate change mitigation policies. Internal factors were not very explicative. Knowledge was linked to clothing and perceived commitment to food, with both sectors being more directly linked to personal choices than other CF sections. Both accounted for 40% of personal emissions. Frequency of action was not shown to be significantly related to any CF section. External factors, such as income, level of studies, age and type of work, were found to be more important than internal drivers in explaining personal CF, particularly type of work, age and income, which were linked to all CF sectors but household energy. Sex was highly associated to clothing, but also significant for transport. Political orientation was not found to be linked to any section of personal CF.

Effects of Voluntary and Involuntary Real Lab Situations on Personal Carbon Footprints of Private Households. Experiences From Germany

This paper compares the carbon footprint effects of a voluntary real lab with those of the involuntary “real lab” provided by the lockdowns during the recent Corona crisis. In a voluntary real lab situation, 100 private households in Berlin (Germany) have tried to reduce their personal carbon footprints over 1 year (2018). The households have been equipped with a weekly carbon tracker, calculating their CO2e1 footprint in the domains housing energy, mobility on ground, air travel, food, other consumption, and public consumption. The households have been informed by various channels and supported by a network of “green” local enterprises and NGOs. It was also possible for them to make use of in-home energy advisors, identifying easy-to-accomplish saving potential. On average, the households managed to reduce their footprint by 11%, with individual savings of up to 40%. One of the major problems the households have been experiencing was refraining from air travel, e.g., by substituting it by train l. Others identified road safety as a major problem when switching from cars to bikes. With an annual reduction of 10%, carbon neutrality could be reached in or even before 2050. But political decisions are needed in order to change the collective boundary conditions. In 2020, Germany–as many other countries–has experienced a COVID-19 lockdown with substantial restrictions to all kinds of consumption activities (flying, international travel, consumption activities in the public etc.). This work compares the CO2 reduction effects of these two “real labs,” a voluntary and an imposed one, and ask what the relative quantitative effects are. Following that comparison, it reflect upon the similarities and differences of voluntary and imposed situations, and what there can be learned for the implementation of policies for more sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Calculating carbon emissions from personal travelling: insights from a top-down analysis of key calculators.

Personal travelling unfavourably contributes to the emissions of greenhouse gases, which adversely causes long-term damage to the climate. In order to reduce the associated negative impacts of such activities on the environment, there is a wide consensus that enhancements and innovations in the efficiency of vehicles will not be enough, but behavioural changes are needed. For this, individuals should be able to measure their travel-related carbon emissions, and such emissions could be determined by using personal carbon footprint calculators, which proliferated during the previous decade. However, various research questions related to such calculators are yet to be answered in published literature. As such, this paper investigates how key transport-based calculators account for emissions from personal transport-related activities following a top-down analysis. In this endeavour, ten such calculators are investigated through a set of formulated research questions to analyse their scope, calculation approach used, transparency, consistency of results, communication methods utilized and platform differences. Results revealed that the calculators have varying granularity, have limited transparency, provide significantly inconsistent results in some cases and are not fully engaging end users. Based on limitations identified, recommendations have been proposed through a taxonomy to guide policy-makers towards improving such tools.

Procreation, Footprint and Responsibility for Climate Change

Several climate ethicists have recently argued that having children is morally equivalent to over-consumption, and contributes greatly to parents’ personal carbon footprints. We show that these claims are mistaken, for two reasons. First, including procreation in parents’ carbon footprints double-counts children’s consumption emissions, once towards their own, and once towards their parents’ footprints. We show that such double-counting defeats the chief purpose of the concept of carbon footprint, namely to measure the sustainability and equitability of one’s activities and choices. Furthermore, we show that proposals to avoid double-counting have other unacceptable implications. Second, we show that the key arguments for a supposed moral equivalence of procreation and consumption overgenerate and lead to unacceptable consequences in many cases, such as for the work of doctors who save lives or enable procreation. Finally, we propose that rather than counting children’s emissions towards their parents’ carbon footprints, we should consider these emissions as part of the parents’ carbon impact, i.e. the difference that their choices make to the overall global carbon emissions. It is from the perspective of impact that we should think about the ethics of procreation in an age of climate change.

Ecological Footprint and Water Footprint of Taipei

Taiwan suffers from many natural disasters and is vulnerable to climate change. A continuous increase in its ecological footprint (EF) would pose numerous threats to the city. Taipei is Taiwan’s most densely populated city. Whether its citizens are consuming more resources because of their high income and high degree of urbanization, thereby burdening the environment, warrants study. In contrast to most top-down EF analyses, in this study, 445 residents were surveyed to calculate their carbon, built-up land and water footprints. Gender, occupation, age, education level and personal annual income do not influence water footprint or EF. Moreover, an individual’s water footprint is not correlated with his or her EF. The built-up land footprint that is obtained in this bottom-up study is similar to that in Taiwan’s top-down national footprint account. However, the personal carbon footprint found herein is smaller than that in the national footprint account, because this study asked respondents only about consumption related to everyday activities. Since Taipei residents have a high income and high daily consumption, the water footprint herein is larger than the top-down water footprint. This bottom-up EF analysis reflects residents’ daily consumption patterns and can be used in future urban decision-making.