4.4 Moving towards a sustainable carbon footprint
In Section 4.1 it was noted that a globally sustainable carbon footprint was about 2.5 tonnes CO2e per person per year, to be achieved by 2030. That would require the mean footprints per person in the Global North to be reduced by about 80%, while allowing the footprints of poorer countries in the Global South to increase to give their populations a reasonable standard of living.
In Activity 8, you calculated that meeting the UK Government’s emission reduction targets on the way to net zero would mean a personal consumption-based carbon footprint of about 5 tonnes CO2e per person per year by 2030, falling to about 3.5 tonnes by 2035. The discussion noted that such light personal carbon footprints might be achievable by individual and household actions, but are likely to require the making of carbon-saving investments beyond the home and/or actions by government and businesses, such as those discussed in Section 5.
In the next section you will continue to consider your personal carbon footprint.