‘What’s going on out there, and “so what?” for us?’
While we prepare, in corporate board and executive settings, to meet the looming regulatory requirements for organisational carbon profile, we might take a moment to ask how we appear to our people as environmental stewards. The path to a carbon free future begins with each of us. Can you name someone who is your example? To whom are you an example? People notice. And it matters in the ripple effect of positive change. ‘What’s going on, and “so what?” for you at your place?’
In 1994 I leased 12 hectares of land in a remote part of New Zealand and planted it in pines. Why? At least in part because of my layman’s concern for greenhouse gas degradation of our atmosphere, which was probably born of writing primary school essays on the problem between HCFCs (hydrochloroflourocarbons) and our ozone layer, which was the main thing at the time.
In 2019 I harvested 3,600 tonnes of logs. On a dry weight ratio of 2:1, that roughly equates to 1,800 tonnes of sequestered carbon.
I currently estimate my personal carbon footprint at 12.52 tonnes per year (you can work this out for yourself in five minutes on helpful sites like Carbon Calculator – ClimateHero). I’m not proud of that number, by the way. It’s estimated that a typical Western world resident has a footprint of 10 tons CO2e per year, and today’s world average is five tons CO2e per year per person*. To reduce the impacts of climate change, we’re encouraged to get that average down to two tons CO2e per person by 2030.
Having sequestered 1,800 tonnes of carbon, even if I don’t improve my carbon footprint from here on, it would take me 143 years to undo the good work. I only expect to live to 90 years of age, so I already have a ‘carbon free life’. It feels quite good.
There’s a trick to all this, of course. I’ve had to replant the forestry block again. This is necessary because, while much of the first-generation forest is locked up in timber houses and other built structures for the foreseeable future, a significant portion of the carbon will likely be released back to atmosphere during my lifetime (wherever the wood’s other end uses see it burn or decompose). The evolving ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) offers specifics on the assumptions around all that.
In the meantime, I replanted in 2019 and expect my kids to harvest a similar weight of carbon in 2044. I wonder what they’ll decide to do at that point.
For those inclined to less radical means, there are much simpler ways to reduce your individual carbon footprint. I’m on a carbon ‘diet’ now and, using ClimateHero, I’m aiming to get down to 12.4 tonnes per annum as an initial step. The adjustments are completely doable and, for me, they’re mainly about my transport and consumables options. But the market is also starting to offer accessible ways to neutralize one’s residual carbon footprint. Surprisingly, this can cost as little as a couple of fast food vegetarian burger and chip meals per month!
At ThinkBird, our mission is to assist organisations in navigating the complexities of our rapidly changing world, with climate change being one prominent driver of transformation. We work alongside passionate individuals who are eager to embrace sustainability and resilience in fundamental aspects of their business strategies.
*A ton is 1.10231 tonnes; CO2e is a measure that bundles and expresses greenhouse gases as a single number, for overall global warming potential.
