On November 15, Damián was born, the inhabitant who number 8,000 million. That same day, representatives of almost the entire planet, meeting in Egypt at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, were trying to agree to limit the excess emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. We might think that both events are not related, but the reality is that if we do not put a stop to greenhouse gas emissions, the future of Damien and the other billions of human beings who live with him will be very difficult. .
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the HIM indicates that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. If we don’t, the warming will be much greater, 2.5ºC by the end of the century, and the consequences will be unpredictable and surely catastrophic for our children, grandchildren and future generations.
What can we do to help control emissions and try, at least, to reduce the impact they will have for future generations?
As is often the case with the great challenges facing humanity, there is no magic answer, but there are many ways to help. Today we interview Sergio Álvarez Gallego, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, a person who has been working for years on the development of a basic concept to fight climate change: the Carbon Footprint. Sergio Álvarez explains that the Carbon Footprint assesses the set of greenhouse gases that are directly and indirectly emitted and absorbed as a result of an activity.
They are greenhouse gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, ozone, fluorinated gases, etc., and all of them count when calculating the Carbon Footprint. If we look at the information that is given about the carbon footprint, it almost always points to the activities carried out during large events, to companies, to countries, etc. However, when the analysis of emissions is done from the point of view of final demand, that is, of those who actually make the demand for goods and services, it is discovered that 80% of the global carbon footprint is due to consumers, the rest is due to the demand for goods and services made by governments. So, as hard as it may seem to admit, we are the citizens who, with our activities, have the highest responsibility for the carbon footprint that is generated throughout the planet.
Sergio comments on the result of a study that counts the carbon footprint generated by the activities of the citizens of more than 150 cities and provides very important information on the way in which each one of us contributes to the carbon footprint during our daily activities. .
To what extent do a person’s activities contribute to their carbon footprint?
Sergio mentions four main components for a person who lives in a big city, such as Madrid: transportation (10%), the purchase of goods and services (30%), the consumption of electricity and heating fuels (34%), and food. (26%).
Each of these sections must be analyzed individually, so that each citizen knows what their contribution to the global carbon footprint is and decides what aspects they can change to reduce it. There are many examples and Sergio offers us some interesting ideas so that each one of us, to the extent of his possibilities, contributes his bit to reduce the global Carbon Footprint. Among these ideas is a greater use of community means of transport instead of the private car, refueling with fuel with a high content of biofuels, if the use of a private vehicle is necessary; buy with moderation and not consume compulsively, thinking that each good we buy leaves its carbon footprint during the manufacture and extraction of raw materials, in addition to generating waste that, in turn, contributes to increasing the carbon footprint; consume local products to reduce the footprint left by transportation and distribution costs; Contract electrical energy with suppliers that supply energy from renewable sources, generate your own energy, if possible, using solar panels; choose a diet less rich in beef, a meat whose production leaves a carbon footprint up to five times higher than poultry or pork, for example, and avoid wasting food, etc.
Beyond the individual sphere, Sergio Álvarez talks about the techniques used to determine the carbon footprint as a measure of the environmental impact of an organization, company or country. To carry out this calculation, there are recognized international regulations that allow the determination of the equivalent CO2 mass, a calculation that opens the way to implement a strategy to reduce or offset emissions through different programs, public or private.
But, beyond large-scale calculations, we must not forget that companies and institutions are subject to the laws of supply and demand, laws that are based on consumers. So, if the more than 8,000 million human beings that inhabit this planet are determined to reduce the carbon footprint individually, even if it is to a small extent, the sum of the contributions of all could provide a change that, in the end, Future generations will thank us.
I invite you to listen to Sergio Álvarez Gallego, Doctor of Forestry Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Professor of Topography and Environmental Sustainability at the School of Roads, Canals and Ports.
REFERENCES:
CONCEPTS BASICS FROM FINGERPRINT OF CARBON
THE FINGERPRINT OF CARBON OF LOS PRODUCTS