Humanity currently emits about 50 billion tonnes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases per year. It's a lot!
Since industrialization we've pumped out about 2,400 billion tonnes (~80% by wealthy developed countries).
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There's hidden carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in everything we use, do or buy in the modern world!
These emissions are "embodied" or "embedded" in the materials things are made of, to how they're made and the type of energy that's used, to how they've been transported to reach us, to how they are used. We didn't choose for them to be there, but they definitely are!
As an alternative climate friendly antidote this Black Friday instead of buying stuff (or in addition) put our money to high-quality carbon removal.
If you're in the market for some new tech this Black Friday check out how much carbon is hidden in different products - from phones to computers to TVs and other electronics.
If you're traveling or considering booking time away somewhere there's a carbon cost to doing so. Take a look at the baked-in carbon, whether that's flights, driving or buying a new car.
Yep, you guessed it, a whole load of other things we buy and use all the time have planet heating emissions locked into them. Whether that's clothes, food or something else.
Subscribe to a regular contribution to live your best climate life. Simply select the amount of carbon you'd like to pull out of the atmosphere and we'll make it happen.
The Current Carbon Offsets Market
At present the majority of offsets that are available to buy are "avoidance", rather than reduction and removal of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Avoidance is when something that doesn't emit is able to create credits that can be then bought by those who do, to offset their own emissions. No decarbonization or reduction needs to happen. It's not up the job we need it to do.
The current voluntary carbon market is stocked full of this type of avoidance credit - they're nearly two-thirds of what you can buy. They are cheap, from a few US dollars per tonne of emissions avoided. This hides the true cost of releasing billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the air every year, as well as distorting how much progress is being made to really decarbonize the world.
Ways to Make An Impact
As more and more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere heat our planet (due to human activity), it's important to make investing in solutions available to everyone. Carbon removal projects are one way to start to do this. As is knowing the carbon hidden in all our stuff, so that we can make informed choices to reduce emissions from their present high level.
A hand-curated, ready-made and science-backed portfolio of high quality carbon removal solutions, that will evolve as new stuff becomes available. All projects are fully vetted with certificates published showing the amount of greenhouse gases removed. We account for every cent, and show you the receipts.
Our Portfolio-1 has a benchmark price of $150 per tonne (a metric ton) of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere, because that's the approximate price suggested by numerous respected organisations. It also gives us a good range of options to invest in high quality carbon removal solutions.
Each type locks away emissions for a different amount of time. We look for verified projects that have as long as possible permanence. It varies from about 100 to tens of thousands of years.
Does the project remove emissions from the atmosphere - and lock them away - more than would have been if nothing had happened? We look for the highest levels of extra carbon removal.
We love projects that have more benefits in tackling climate change and ecological breakdown than just removing or reducing emissions. We look for projects that also regenerate nature.
The year that the carbon will be removed. Ideally the sooner the better. We'll say what the vintage is, as it will vary by the project type - from this year to a few years down the line.
It took me literally 3 clicks to offset my carbon emissions from this SFO-NYC-SFO trip. I'm officially impressed! What a lovely thing you are all building over there. Bravo!
Karen 🇺🇸
Well done. I already am climate-active, but you inspired me to step it up a notch!
Peter H 🇺🇸
It’s pretty amazing! Thank you for making confusing climate science so clear and giving people a way to contribute effectively.
Andrea 🇪🇸
If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed and hopeless about the climate crisis, you're not alone. But here's something that can help! A realistic but hopeful picture of what we need to do.
Josh S 🇩🇪
I thought it was very well presented and easy to follow, it has a friendly feel. I have heard about Climate change and the dangers we face but this is the first time I feel I have been given information to put what is happening into perspective
Karen E 🇬🇧
This is the format in which I like to learn. And, the content is really good and well paced.
Clyde 🇺🇸
I’ve been finding it a super easy way to spread the word and to get more people joining our mission.
Mariana D 🇬🇧
I can't thank you enough for all you're doing, Zopeful Team! I loved it. It was informative, approachable, hopeful and empowering. Keep up the incredible work. Cheers!
Caitlin 🇺🇸
Really enjoyed Intro to Climate!
Looking forward to the next one!
Jorim S 🇳🇱
It's a great opportunity to really ponder the Climate Crisis and assess what you can do to have an impact
Courtney 🇬🇧
Love what you are doing here, and impressive what you have pulled together :-) Thanks for being at pains to cut through the jargon – this educational work you're doing is so key.
Tom 🇺🇸
Does a brilliant job of taking a huge...& complex subject & breaking it down into easily digestible chunks.
Cherry 🇬🇧
I admire your dedication to the project & you've clearly done a lot of research!
Kai 🇦🇺
You’re doing the grunt work so others don’t have to! #climatehero.
Pooja 🇮🇳
The Climate Crisis doesn't have to be a horror movie. It can become a story about hope, opportunity, personal choice, and collective effort. Nobody has to be perfect, but we all have to do something!
Enrico 🇩🇪
That depends. It's up to you. We've bundled some options so you can make your own decisions. Some people choose to buy carbon removal for specific purchases they've made, and others prefer to subscribe to remove their entire climate impact.
Whichever you choose is right for you is good by us, it's all progress.
😳 Take a look how much a typical person emits per year in your country 😳
🤔 See how much carbon is in your stuff 🤔
💚 Check out the projects we love 💚
🤑 Subscribe to monthly carbon removal 🤑
We love questions! We want you to feel 100% comfortable and excited about joining our carbon removal portfolio. It's something we wished existed but couldn't find, so we made one!
A portfolio of different carbon removal solutions, blended together to make it an affordable cost per tonne. Here's more info. When you join we'll send you an email detailing all the different things in there. If you're interested in going deeper join our free 3-day course all about it.
We'll publish a ledger of all the CDR purchases the Portfolio fund makes and when they'll be verified as having removed the carbon. Every cent will be accounted for and we'll show you the evidence.
We'll also show you our research and how we made the decisions of what does (& doesn't) go into the Portfolio. Full transparency.
As much as possible. As a minimum it'll be 85% of your contribution. Of the remaining 15%: 5% is payment processing fees, 5% is for third party fees (if applicable), and 5% is so we can keep making more stuff like this.
It's all factored into the fund, so fees don't reduce the tonnes of carbon removal that's actually happening.
We'll keep this under review and if it's possible to increase the amount going to CDR projects we will.
Yes, absolutely! That's why we're here!
Check out these blog articles:
Is Reducing Emissions Better than Removing them?
What are Avoidance Offsets and the Voluntary Carbon Market?
Why is it important to invest in carbon removal now?
We've lots of additional short articles on our blog as well as our free climate courses.
Join awesome humans from over 60 countries on our free 14-day Intro to Climate email course to jumpstart your climate journey.
It's the shortcut to your best climate life that we wish we'd had when we started out.
Register now to start next Monday.
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