Climate change is affecting the entire globe, causing extreme weather events such as flooding, extreme heat waves, heavy downpours, as well as rapidly changing climate conditions. To limit global warming to 1.5C and achieve carbon neutrality, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the 2015 Paris Agreement, it is essential to understand where carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions come from, so that actions to reduce emissions can be taken.  So, what does carbon footprint mean and why is it relevant in this context? 

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What Is the Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), expressed in equivalent tons of CO2. It is associated with the activities of an individual, a community, an organisation, a process, a product or service, or an event, among other things. Individual carbon footprint can thus be termed as the total amount of greenhouse gases produced by our personal actions such as transportation, household activities, clothing and food. A product’s carbon footprint measures the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions from its life cycle – from raw material extraction and production to the final use by consumers including recycling or disposal. A company’s carbon footprint determines the greenhouse gas emissions from across its operations, including power generation used in building structures, industrial activities, and machinery and equipment. The carbon footprint of a country considers the greenhouse gas emissions from total energy and material utilisation, plants and other carbon sequestrations, as well as indirect and direct emissions from import and export processes.

Credit: Wynes and Nicholas (2017)

How Can Carbon Footprint Help Us Combating Climate Change? 

The carbon footprint is a valuable tool for measuring the contribution to climate change by an individual, organisations, products and services, and more. For example, by computing the industrial carbon footprint, an industry can better understand its major sources of emissions and find ways to minimise them. 

Some of the biggest advantages of measuring a company’s carbon footprint: 

1. Assist you in understanding the key emissions sources in your organisation. 
2. It enables you to dive deep into your company’s activities and identify the most important challenges as well as opportunities.
3. It facilitates stakeholder participation. 
4. It enables you to become more conscious of your consumption and contribute to making more responsible decisions.
5. To be competitive in the marketplace, you must implement sustainable carbon-reduction strategies.
6. Estimating a company’s carbon footprint can help to improve the reliability and veracity of the data used for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sustainability reporting. 

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Consumers are also becoming more aware and conscious of the environmental effects of the products they purchase from the market. According to a 2020 YouGov survey of over 10,000 consumers worldwide, two-thirds (64%) of consumers endorse the concept of carbon labelling on products to show that products have been made with a commitment to measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. 

At the individual level, to efficiently contribute to climate change mitigation, you do so by monitoring and measuring your individual carbon footprint. Some people produce much more carbon dioxide than others; the average carbon footprint for an individual in the United States is sixteen tons, which is one of the largest in the world. The average carbon footprint on a global scale is closer to four tons. To have the best chance of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, carbon footprints must be measured at multiple levels, including national, organisational, and individual.

How the Carbon Footprint Is Calculated

A carbon footprint is estimated by measuring not only CO2 emissions but also emissions of other greenhouse gases such as methane – which is 25 times more potent than carbon – and nitrous oxide. The effects of each of these gases are summed and represented as a single value in metric tons of carbon dioxide (MT CO2e). There are two commonly used methods of carbon footprint estimation, life cycle assessment and input-output analysis. Life cycle assessment takes into account all processes in the product’s life cycle, from production to disposal of the product. It involves summing up as many of the emissions pathways as possible. With this approach, there is a high possibility of missing out some pathways and since it is a manual process; it could take days to calculator per product and therefore not suitable for large scale use.  

The second method known as input-output analysis involves using carbon intensities, which are measured in kilograms of CO2 per amount spent on the products, to assign a footprint to a product based on its price. Because the process is fully automated, it is much faster and can handle large amounts of data. The main limitation of this method is that it cannot manage product-specific data, such as low carbon sources. 

Choosing which method to be used depends on whether you are dealing with small or large amounts of data. There are numerous calculators available online to assist you in estimating your personal carbon footprint. However, depending on the methodology used, the responses could vary significantly between websites. Although it is only an estimate, it will provide you with an idea as to how much you make a contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. It could also give a better idea for making your lifestyle choices more eco-friendly.

What Can You Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? 

As we go about our everyday lives, we emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By reducing our carbon footprint, we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The choices we make every day in our homes, our travels, the food we eat, and what we buy and throw away can help ensure a stable climate for future generations. A vegetarian or vegan diet, for example, is more eco-friendly than a diet rich in meat. According to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in February 2022, Americans who eat beef could reduce their carbon footprint by up to 48% by substituting non-beef meals with just one serving per day for a more environmentally friendly alternative. Other lifestyle changes include using a bicycle instead of a car to travel, or you could use renewable energy to power your car and electronic devices. 

For companies, carbon footprint reduction is critical in terms of compliance and stakeholder engagement. If you want to be successful in business, you must adopt sustainable emission-reduction strategies. For the emissions that businesses are unable to cut or reduce, they can be offset – meaning companies can invest in eco-sustainable activities to the point that they capture the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions that the organisation or activities are accountable for. For instance, if company stakeholders can’t avoid flying or long-distance travels, one way to compensate for the emissions is to donate money to eco-sustainable projects. It is everyone’s responsibility, including individuals and the private sector, to make the world a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable place.

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Carbon markets are rapidly expanding as nations, businesses, and people struggle to reach their emissions-reduction targets. However, transparency is one of the challenges faced by participants in the carbon markets. Blockchain technology can provide a solution by monitoring and reporting emission reduction trading, eliminating any double counting problems, improving finance flows, and helping to build trust. Despite being relatively new, blockchain technology can help address the challenges of transparency in carbon trading in the near future.

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Increased net-zero commitments by individuals, businesses, and governments have been accompanied by rapid growth in carbon market trading. Carbon markets – which aim to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to global warming by allowing the buying and selling of carbon credits – are expected to grow significantly, with demand for carbon credits expected to increase by more than US$50 billion by 2030. However, there are serious concerns about how carbon market trading is managed, including issues of trust, transparency, and double-counting of GHG emission reductions. To address these challenges, an emergent digital technology known as blockchain has recently evolved and is being used in carbon trading markets to improve and revolutionise the market structure by boosting transparency, lowering transaction costs, and building trust. The technology allows resource transfers and transaction documenting via a secured and centralised database.

Alexandre Gellert Paris, Technical Officer at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stated that: “As countries, regions, cities, and businesses work swiftly to implement the provisions of the Paris Agreement, they need to make use of all innovative and state-of-the-art technologies available that may contribute to more stakeholder involvement, transparency, and engagement and help build trust and advance innovative ideas in the fight against climate change, leading to enhanced climate actions.”

Similarly, universities in Germany and Denmark have published a study outlining the potential benefits of blockchain technology in developing an international carbon credit market. The report examines the viability of blockchain technology for a carbon market mechanism according to Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. 

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What is Blockchain Technology and How Does It Work?

The concept of “chained blocks” was initially proposed to solve the double-spending problem in Bitcoin; as a result, the term “blockchain” progressively became more generalised. Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology that links users together online to produce a trustworthy transaction record without the need for a third party. It is a database that stores records but, unlike a regular database, a blockchain secures data in a way that makes system manipulation, tampering and falsification impossible.

In blockchain technology, the data are stored in “blocks”, which are then sequentially arranged and interlinked to create an unbreakable chain. Each block in a chain comprises three basic components: data, a nonce (a 32-bit whole number), and a hash (a 256-bit number coupled to the nonce). The cryptographic hash is produced by a nonce at the beginning of a chain. Unless it is mined, the data in the block is regarded as signed and permanently bound to the nonce and hash.

When a transaction occurs, it is registered as a “block” of data, and each block is linked to the ones preceding and following it, forming an irrevocable chain referred to as a blockchain. Each additional block reinforces the previous block’s verification, and thus the entire blockchain. This makes the blockchain tamper-evident, delivering the critical power of robustness.

Image 1: How Blockchain Technology works

How Can Blockchain Technology Improve Transparency in Carbon Market Trading?

Carbon markets have traditionally been centralised, impenetrable, and illiquid, resulting in very limited market participation. Blockchain has the potential to expand existing carbon markets and create new ones for a wider range of stakeholders, including small businesses and individuals. The technology records transactions publicly and permanently, helping to promote traceability and honesty.

Blockchain technology has the potential to improve carbon market trading in the following ways:

1. Building Consumer Trust and Preventing Greenwashing

One of the greatest challenges in carbon markets trading is the inaccuracy and unreliability of data. Many businesses have fallen victim to greenwashing. However, blockchain technology offers a much more transparent and distributed method of keeping track of transactions, giving consumers a detailed audit record for all the parts of a product across all phases of its lifecycle.

2. Eradicating Double Counting

Blockchain has the potential to remove the possibility of duplicate counting – a situation where two parties claim the same emission reduction or carbon removal – and can strengthen the reliability, which decreases energy usage and will attract the participation of private finance, microfinance, and crowdfunding.

3. Effective Tracking of Carbon Markets

Blockchain can record a carbon credit’s complete journey, from creation through purchase to retirement. With the help of transparent credit tracking made simple by blockchain technology, voluntary markets might be expanded and made more accessible. The potential for aggregating small purchases via a transparent distributed ledger could assist regular consumers in reducing their environmental impacts.

The technology can offer more transparency regarding tracking GHG emissions and make it easier to track and report emission reductions, thereby addressing possible double counting issues. It could serve as a tool to monitor the progress made in implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, as well as in company targets.

4. Streamline and Accelerate Carbon Trading 

As opposed to either centralised or decentralised networks, the blockchain prevents monopolisation dominance of the system by eliminating the need for middlemen and enabling more streamlined and direct pathways for buying and selling credits. It can reduce the time required for clearance and trade approval by eliminating the requirement for intermediaries such as clearing houses. The use of smart contracts can accelerate the buying and selling of carbon credits by digitalising the negotiation and agreement process.

5. Enhance Carbon Emission Trading

Blockchain technology has the potential to enhance the carbon asset trade system. All the credible information gathered from a blockchain can assist businesses or organisations in identifying their issues and the reasons why they have not been eco-friendly yet. As such, they will find it simpler to define what being eco-friendly means for them and to establish suitable ways of achieving it.

6. Facilitate Clean Energy Trading and Ensure Appropriate Use of Funds

When it comes to finding accurate information about carbon credit, such as validation and verification, there is a credibility problem. Blockchain technology can address that by enabling the creation of systems for peer-to-peer renewable energy trading. Consumers would be able to buy, sell, or trade renewable energy with one another by using tokens or tradable digital assets representing a specific amount of energy production.

7. Enhance Climate Finance Flows

Blockchain technology has the ability to accelerate the development of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financial transactions in support of climate action, while also ensuring that funding is assigned to projects in a transparent manner. Blockchain will ensure that the revenue generated is used solely to address carbon emission issues and not to fund any alternative political agenda. 

What is the Current State of Blockchain Technology in the Carbon Market?

The use of blockchain technology in carbon market trading is still relatively new, and many studies are being conducted around the world to determine the technology’s suitability for improving carbon trading. A 2022 study revealed that companies nowadays are more willing to participate in carbon pilot projects using blockchain technology.

Another study identified 39 organisations that are developing blockchain solutions for carbon markets across two use cases: emissions-trading schemes and voluntary carbon markets. Among them are IBM and Ben&Jerry’s, both of which recently collaborated with blockchain companies to make carbon offsets more accessible to everyday consumers. IBM is also collaborating with Veridium Labs to develop digital tokens to facilitate the trading of carbon credits. 

Poseidon is a pioneer in voluntary carbon markets, focusing on retail integration and pinning carbon credits to everyday purchases. CEO Laszlo Giricz explains: “When we realized that using the Stellar blockchain transactions could be done in three seconds and at such a low cost, we realised we could now transact in grams of carbon. Carbon credits could be incorporated into retail transactions at the point of sale for the first time.”

Other companies and organisations that are using or developing blockchain technology in their carbon credits trading include ClimateTrade, AirCarbon Exchange, Powerledger, JustCarbon, Likvidi, Phaeton Blockchain, Carbonex, Blockchain for Climate Foundation.

Although blockchain technology is still in its infancy and early stages of development, it has the potential to be the best technology in the near future for addressing the challenges of transparency in carbon trading.

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Jordan, like other developing countries, is facing serious climate change-related challenges. To address them, the country has developed an end-to-end digital infrastructure to monitor and support the process of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction based on the recommendations of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. As the first developing nation to create and test this digital infrastructure, Jordan is now a leading example to other countries. But what exactly does its transition to a low-carbon economy entail?

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is becoming more urgent as the global effects of climate change worsen rapidly.

Carbon markets are considered critical components in the fight against climate change. They assist nations in mobilising resources and lowering the costs of implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – climate action plans to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts that signatories of the Paris Agreement are required to submit – allowing countries and businesses to seamlessly transition to a low-carbon economy. 

Tradings in carbon credits are projected to cut the costs related to implementing NDCs by more than half – with savings up to US$250 billion by 2030.

How Jordan Developed Its First Digital Infrastructures

According to the World Bank, Jordan is the first developing country in the world to have built digital infrastructures that include monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems that link greenhouse gas emissions and emission reduction data to national or international registries. The MRV and GHG systems will monitor emissions across several sectors, including energy, transportation, and agriculture. The MRV system now includes 22 ministries and agencies. 

“Jordan is a pioneer in the climate space” – said Harikumar Gadde, a senior climate change specialist at the World Bank.

The country is battling a series of extremely severe climate challenges, such as rising temperatures, lack of precipitation, increased droughts, and water shortages. Moreover, Jordan is still heavily reliant on fossil fuel imports, has limited natural resources, and has an extremely limited water supply.

To address these climate challenges, in 2019 the Asian nation enacted a climate change bylaw to establish a climate change institutional and regulatory framework, developing its first MRV system to track emissions in sectors such as energy, transportation, and agriculture, calculate emissions and reductions, and link the results to its NDC. The system assists in tracking and reporting the nation’s progress in reducing climate change impacts across all sectors, including transportation, energy, and agriculture.

The MRV system has three key functions:

• Track GHG emissions to national GHG inventory.
• Measur the GHG emissions reduction from implemented climate change mitigation projects.
• Record financial and technical support.

The system works on four levels – project or program, ministries or agencies, sectoral, and national levels. 

 “The digital revolution significantly contributes to climate action and is an integral part of addressing environmental challenges” – said Celina Varouqa, a Jordanian computer and technology expert in an interview with The Jordan Times. “The project combines the environmental and digital sectors, which the Kingdom has historically taken meaningful commitments in.” – she added.

Jordan contributes only 0.04% of total global CO2 emissions, far less than other developing nations such as Brazil (0.96%), Nigeria (0.23%), Kuwait (0.17%), Turkey (0.64%), Saudi Arabia (0.96%), and Chile (0.17% ). Nonetheless, the Kingdom is working on a long-term, low-carbon emissions strategic plan to achieve sustainable low-carbon economic growth by implementing a 10-year National Energy Sector Strategy to cut carbon emissions by 10% by 2030 and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports. Indeed, Jordan generates only 12% of its energy locally.

Jordan’s other strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is to increase investments in renewable energy. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Dr. Saleh A. Al-Kharabsheh said that by 2030, the nation intends to increase the proportion of renewable power sources in its overall energy mix by 50%. Currently, Jordan produces around 1,645 megawatt (MW) of energy from solar panels and 625MW from wind farms, making up 26% of the nation’s total energy output.

Where do Other Developing Countries Stand in Terms of Transition to a Low-carbon Economy?

One of the most interesting aspects of Jordan’s MRV system software is that it is open source, allowing any interested country to adopt it freely. With the assistance of the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR), the system is already being replicated for the West Bank, Gaza, and Sri Lanka. 

According to the World Bank, many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, Africa, Latin America, and Asia have also expressed interest in open source MRV and registry systems. Moreover, countries like Chile, Ghana, Singapore, and Vanuatu are already constructing end-to-end, cutting-edge digital infrastructure to support their participation in international carbon markets. 

It is hoped that more developing countries will follow Jordan’s lead in taking this monumental step.

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Researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Canada discovered that even low air pollution levels can be linked to reduced lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Large proportion of the Canadian population is particularly vulnerable to air pollutants, the study reveals.

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Air pollution is a major threat to global environmental health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the Lancet commission on pollution and health report, air pollution caused nearly seven million deaths worldwide in 2019.

Recently, a research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine revealed that even exposure to low levels of air pollution can be associated with poor lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Researchers measured the amount of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide that 1,500 people were exposed to according to where they resided. They monitored their lung function with CT scans and spirometry tests – a simple test that measures how much air can be expressed in one forced breath over the course of three years.

“This is among the few studies that have looked into the relationship between air pollution and adult lung health in low-pollution areas like Canada,” said Dr Jean Bourbeau of McGill University, a senior scientist in the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program (RESP) at the RI-MUHC, and lead author of the paper.

“Our study shows that even in this situation, long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution has significant negative effects on lung function,” he continued. “We discovered that even minor increases in fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide air pollution resulted in clinically significant reductions in lung function,” he added.

Researchers also found that some people with smaller airways are more likely to have poor lung function and COPD than those with larger airways.

“Our findings suggest that a considerable number of the Canadian population is highly susceptible to air pollutants,” said co-author Dr Benjamin Smith, a scientist in the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program (RESP) at the RI-MUHC and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University, adding that in cases of small increases in air pollution, there was lower lung function. 

A related study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted in 2021 similarly revealed that long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution – even levels lower than the national standard – can increase the risk of many cardiac and respiratory illnesses in elderly adults.

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Black carbon emissions and particles, a key component of particulate matter (PM2.5) produced from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, are major contributors to air pollution in Nairobi, Kenya according to a new study published in April by Nature Journal of Communications Earth & Environment. It’s among the few year-round research on air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa that emphasises the importance of developing strategies to fight air pollution, particularly black carbon emissions.

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Air pollution caused by airborne black carbon particles has serious consequences for public health, making it the perfect target for policy interventions. It is also a major environmental health hazard worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, atmospheric air pollution causes approximately one million premature deaths per year, making it more fatal than major diseases such as diarrhoea, HIV, or malaria. Rapid urbanisation, characterised by insufficient infrastructural facilities and legislation, contributes to rising levels of air pollution in cities throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the State of the Global Air 2020 report, ambient air pollution caused approximately 5,000 premature deaths in Kenya alone in 2019. This necessitates the implementation of effective emission controls and regulations to address the region’s air quality issues in order to minimise the health concern and ensure the sustainable urbanisation.

A recent study conducted by Kirago and his colleagues in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, and published in the Nature Journal of Communications Earth & Environment revealed that black carbon particles are major sources of air pollution in the city. The researchers examined particulate airborne particles concentrations and the radiocarbon composition of black carbon over a one-year period in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city in eastern Sub-Sahara Africa. They discovered that particle concentrations exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit and black carbon particles are a major air pollutant in the city. They also observed that emissions from fossil fuel burning, most importantly from local traffic, accounted for more than 85% of Nairobi’s black carbon emissions.

 “It is important to urgently address air quality challenges in the region, in order to reduce the associated health risks and ensure sustainable urbanisation,” Said Leonard Kirago, PhD student at the Department of Environmental Science, and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Sweden and lead researcher of the study. 

“Regrettably, the data required to inform mitigation measures and strategies in the region is insufficient,” he added.

Kirago believes that the outcomes of the study would efficiently and successfully combat air pollution not only in Nairobi but also for other major cities in Africa, and recommends that investing in an effective public transport system, supporting non-motorised transport services, and enforcing fuel emissions regulations seem to be viable options to reverse the current scenario.

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Featured image by: Pixabay

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