The Low Carb(on) Plan - how will you consume your 4200 kilos?
02/02/2007 09:32Are you living within your carbon budget? Sustainability South West can reveal today just how much carbon each of us can fairly consume to stop us going into the red with climate change.
People in the region need to reduce their CO2 consumption to help reduce the risks of dangerous global warming. Right now that means a maximum per person of roughly 8,400 kilograms a year – 50 per cent of which (4,200 kgs) we each have personal control over. So how do you work it all out? Well at the moment, of the emissions we can control, we all use about 4,750 kgs per person per year (550 kgs over budget!). Broken down, a flight to Europe uses 700 kgs and on average you’ll use 2700 kgs to heat and power your home and roughly the same if you drive 15 miles to work and back five times a week. So you can see how quickly it all adds up.
Director of the Charity Sustainability South West, Leslie Watson, explains, “Runaway climate change will be bad news for everyone but we can all do something positive to reduce the risks. Making smart lifestyles choices and staying within these carbon credit limits will not only help to reduce the risk of climate catastrophe but could also save us cash on energy bills, give us a taste for more locally sourced food and drink, and boost our fitness.”
Using an internationally recognised model [see Note 2 below] which predicts how the atmosphere will behave over time, SSW has discovered that each of us should be ‘budgeting’ for just over 4,200 kilograms of CO2 emissions in 2007, falling to 3,300 kgs by 2016. This is the share of carbon that we are ‘spending’ as individuals and households, and where we can make choices about what we buy. The remainder of emissions (about 50 per cent) come from business, agriculture and public services (such as the NHS), who are also looking at how to reduce their ‘carbon spending’. Although this fall seems like a big change, it actually equates to a few percent less each year starting with roughly a 10% reduction this year and reaching a 30% reduction (on the current average) in year 10. This plan responds to experts thinking that our action during the next 10 years will count most in the battle against runaway climate change.
Sustainability South West will be launching its Fair Shares, Fair Choice campaign in the next few weeks. A new website will offer a choice of virtual ‘carbon coaches’, characters who will offer advice and tips about living within a fair carbon budget at home, work and play.
“The campaign is not about telling people how to live their lives,” says the Charity’s Chair Julian Dennis, Director of Compliance and Sustainability at Wessex Water, “but it will help us to understand that the choices we make about how we run our homes, get around or shop all have a different ‘carbon price’ which we’ll all pay in the long run. There are many advantages to be gained by a low carbon lifestyle. We could improve our health by walking and cycling more and enjoy more locally sourced food and drink which also supports our local economies. We could reduce the stress of driving by using video conferencing for more of our meetings or by working one day a week from home. Businesses could save on energy costs and get ahead of new environmental technologies.”
Sustainability South West believes that our region is very well placed to lead the way in adopting low carbon living and working and that our economy, personal well being and environment would benefit. As part of Fair Shares, Fair Choice, the charity will shortly propose that regional agencies adopt a Carbon Action Plan based on the overall budget for the South West.
© 2007 Sustainability South West - UK registered charity, no. 1106125 - info@sustainabilitysouthwest.org.uk.