«Climate protection calls for innovation»

What’s the verdict after twelve months of climate compensation?
Roman Bolli: We were really positively surprised by how well the Community accepted the new service. The figures show that, after a short start-up phase, compensated online purchases have levelled off at around 10 per cent. We’re blown away – it’s a tremendous success. After all, customers have to actively choose to compensate their carbon emissions every time they make a purchase. This also shows that we’ve been able to address a customer need for more climate protection in online retailing.

How much money has the Community raised for South Pole’s climate protection projects over the past twelve months?
Since its launch last summer, more than 1.3 million Swiss francs have flowed into climate protection projects. This corresponds to a good 60,000 tonnes of CO2 that were avoided and means the Community has made a significant contribution to climate protection. But we’re still nowhere near our goal. In collaboration with Digitec Galaxus, we want to steadily grow this number. We want to show customers that in addition to reducing personal carbon emissions, offsetting them is a sensible and useful tool for climate protection.

It’s difficult to imagine what saving 60,000 tonnes of CO2 actually means. Can you shed some light on the numbers?
Of course. 60,000 tonnes of CO2 saved is the equivalent of 21,000 car owners giving up driving for one year. An economy class passenger would have to fly around the earth about 8,500 times to blow the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. For comparison: according to the Federal Office for the Environment, one Swis person produces 4.4 tonnes of CO2 per year domestically. Digitec Galaxus customers have compensated the annual emissions of around 13,500 people just by voluntarily offsetting online purchases! And that’s despite online purchases only accounting for a fraction of each person’s personal climate footprint.

What exactly happens to the money?
The Digitec Galaxus Community supports projects of all sorts. For example, to protect the rainforest. The goal is to preserve ecosystems that have developed over long periods of time and are home to various animal and plant species. Protecting the rainforests is also enormously important in the fight against global warming, by the way. Studies have shown that the deforestation of existing forests is responsible for 15 per cent of global CO2 emissions, as it releases the CO2 stored in the trees. The money collected in Switzerland supports these projects. It allows for concrete protective measures against deforestation to be implemented. In addition, it helps provide local people with additional and alternative sources of income.

What do you mean by alternative sources of income?
The Isangi project is a good example of the positive and diverse effects of financially supporting projects. The project protects over 187,000 hectares of one of the most biodiverse rainforests on earth from deforestation. Protecting the rainforest also means the local population needs a livelihood beyond logging. That’s exactly where this project comes in. By promoting local economic development and implementing educational initiatives, even remote communities are given the chance to actively shape their future. For example, the project employs over 20 teachers that teach improved agricultural methods on-site which then lead to increased yields.

And what’s the concrete impact of said educational initiatives on the protection of the Isangi rainforest?
The project’s most recent monitoring report shows an estimated net reduction of emissions of 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 in the project area over its duration. In addition, 85 locals are involved in project activities on a full-time basis. The initiatives mentioned have resulted in more than 1,800 people gaining better access to education during the reporting period. The Community’s contribution helps to keep up this development. In short, the project with its various initiatives offers locals an alternative livelihood that focuses on protecting the rainforest instead of deforesting it.

All our projects are certified according to international standards, ensuring they meet the requirements of so-called additionality. Long story short: without the money from carbon credits, these projects wouldn’t be economically viable and would be impossible to implement.

The first certificates have now been claimed, each one meaning a CO2 emission has been compensated. What’s next?
We’re talking about long-term investment and support cycles. CO2 compensation isn’t as simple as «for two francs, we’ll plant a tree and send you a picture of it». It’s all about developing meaningful projects over decades and building sustainable structures. For this to be possible, these projects will also have to be financed by CO2 certificates in the future. If you’re interested in learning more about the projects, you can always check out South Pole’s website.

The Paris Climate Agreement is on everyone’s lips. How can CO2 compensation help to comply with the reduction of greenhouse gases as set out in the agreement?
To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the global carbon footprint must fall by around 30 billion metric tonnes of CO2 by 2030. That’s an enormous undertaking. To achieve this goal, companies and private individuals must massively reduce their own CO2 emissions. This will take time, but it’s unavoidable if we’re to keep global warming below 2°C. Fortunately, reducing our individual emissions is not the only way to achieve this. Thanks to carbon compensation, for example, global projects can be funded which immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale and drive effective climate action – in precisely those regions of the world where each franc invested has the greatest impact.

Saving 30 billion tonnes of CO2 is a lot. How great is the potential of just CO2 compensation certificates alone?
The system of CO2 certificates has already led to a total of over one billion tonnes of greenhouse gases being eliminated from the atmosphere. The numbers show that CO2 compensation can only be a supporting measure to achieve our climate targets. The primary focus must be on preventing emissions from occurring in the first place. So the most sustainable product remains the one we don’t buy.

**And what do you experts see as the most influential way to reduce greenhouse gases? **
To stop global warming, society as a whole must join in. Effective climate protection requires new legal frameworks that encourage companies to rethink existing business models and supply chains and make them climate-neutral. And this calls for innovation. The push for the CO2 law in Switzerland and the «Green New Deal» in the EU are signs that the necessary frameworks are being built up.

What about behavioural changes in individuals?
That’s obvious. We all need to gradually change our behaviour in order to reduce greenhouse gases to a level compatible with the so-called planetary boundaries. The planet essentially must continue to be able to breathe. We’ve long had the necessary information, and what needs to be done makes sense: low-emission mobility, green energy and more plant-based nutrition. A round trip economy flight from Switzerland to New Zealand creates over 6 tonnes of CO2. This corresponds almost exactly to the annual emissions of an average person on earth. Choosing the right electricity provider is also important. An average household can save up to 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per year by switching to green electricity. And those who eat a balanced, low-meat diet reduce their personal carbon footprint by another 400 kilogrammes of CO2 per year.

Does that mean we have to make vacation flights a punishable offence, force electricity suppliers to be CO2-neutral and introduce a hefty meat tax?
There are areas where a policy framework helps. But it’s really a case of social negotiation. The climate crisis demands responsible action from all of us based on scientific facts and recommendations.
A good way to become aware of your personal CO2 footprint is to use an online CO2 calculator. If people know what causes their own climate footprint, they can find out how to reduce and compensate it.

Due to the pandemic, the topic of mobility has been off the table for the past 12 months. However, this is likely to change again starting this autumn at the latest. How must everyday mobility change so we can achieve our ambitious climate targets?
The lockdown has indeed led to improved air quality and short-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in several countries and cities around the world. Germany, for example, has achieved its own climate targets for 2020. However, the low emission levels are obviously the result of temporary, political measures. Mobility is and remains the big issue, especially in Switzerland. According to EnergieSchweiz (article in German), Swiss people travel an average of around 37 kilometres per day (pandemic aside), two thirds of which in cars. That’s a lot of kilometres by car, which, extrapolated, account for more than 30 per cent of Switzerland’s total CO2 emissions. We can and must address this source of emissions swiftly.

Does this mean we all have to switch to the SBB?
Not necessarily. But travelling more by public transport is a very effective way of reducing our carbon footprint in view of the climate. We have enormous advantages in a small and well-organised country like Switzerland. We can reach almost every corner of the country quickly and comfortably – by train, bus, tram or, for shorter distances, bike. Of course, driving makes sense on some routes, ideally using an electric car or the car-sharing service Shared Mobility. I recommend everyone track their travels and the resulting emissions as part of the Swiss Climate Challenge at least once. That way, you know where you stand and how you can improve.

Perhaps above all, Corona has also shown that many business flights are unnecessary. Doesn’t the trend of working from home and video conferencing also help in the fight against climate change?
In April of last year, we looked at the data from the Swiss Climate Challenge in light of the coronavirus. Mobility-related emissions were indeed cut in half. In the case of air traffic, the share of CO2 emissions fell to around 10 per cent in the first phase of the lockdown. From the third week onwards, it fell to virtually 0 per cent. Public transport saw a decline in passenger numbers of around 83 per cent. Car trips decreased by 35 per cent overall. But those who still have to commute to work seem to have switched to travel by car because of social distancing. So in times of pandemic, mobility-related emissions are effectively caused by automobile traffic only – they make up 84 per cent. But the distances covered by bicycle have also doubled.
Maybe some of the lessons learned from the pandemic can be carried over into post-pandemic life. Do you really have to go to the office every day? And couldn’t you also go by bike? Can business trips be replaced by video conferencing? And isn’t vacationing in Switzerland also fantastic?