UN climate body, firm launch online carbon footprint calculator

The Swedish tech company Doconomy, in partnership with UN Climate Change, has launched an online tool to help individuals calculate their carbon footprint so they can understand how their everyday decisions impact the climate and enable them to take effective climate action.

Climate action on the part of consumers is essential to complement the efforts of governments and businesses to tackle climate change.

Users answer a set of straightforward questions covering several categories, such as travel, food or living environment. In only 10 minutes, they can understand how their lifestyle impacts the climate. This knowledge can allow people to take simple, climate conscious decisions that benefit everyone.

“The Lifestyle Calculator is first and foremost a great education tool,” says Niclas Svenningsen, Manager at UN Climate Change. “Quite frankly, citizens around the world cannot be expected to take climate-smart decisions without first getting a proper grasp of their own climate impact. It is also a climate action tool, because once we know and understand the scale of our business-as-usual decisions, we can really act accordingly. This is why it is key to openly share this product and use it to unite against climate change.”

The Lifestyle Calculator offers a standardised method so everyone can calculate their carbon footprint regardless of where they live in the world. The underlying data includes a set of UNFCCC-verified, publicly available, reputable sources. They belong to recognised organisations that have been chosen due to their credibility. In addition, a full methodology is available to ensure full transparency of the calculations and underlying assumptions, and to encourage further collaboration around possible improvements or additions in the near future.

“It’s an absolute privilege for Doconomy – together with UN Climate Change – to present the Lifestyle Calculator to the world,” says Milton Noel Malmestrom, Doconomy Product Manager. “To solve the climate crisis as a collective, we need to first understand how our everyday decisions affect the planet, and this product provides that very snapshot — in turn empowering us to commit towards reducing our impact.”