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Climate Emergency

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2020 was the joint hottest year on record despite a 7% drop in greenhouse gas emissions. Why? 

The average temperature across the world in 2020 was <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/2020-warmest-year-record-europe-globally-2020-ties-2016-warmest-year-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.25°C higher than pre-industrial times</a>. This is dangerously close to the 1.5°C limit set by the world nations to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, and made 2020 the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/2020-warmest-year-record-europe-globally-2020-ties-2016-warmest-year-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joint hottest year on record</a>.  This means the last six years have been the six hottest years on record and that the period from 2011-2020 was the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/2020-warmest-year-record-europe-globally-2020-ties-2016-warmest-year-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hottest decade ever recorded</a>.
Only 2016 matched the heat recorded in 2020, however in 2016 there was a natural <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">El Niño climate event</a> that boosts temperatures. Without the added factor of this natural event in 2016, <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/2020-warmest-year-record-europe-globally-2020-ties-2016-warmest-year-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scientists predict that 2020</a> would have been the outright hottest year. 
Meanwhile, Europe saw its warmest year on record at <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/2020-warmest-year-record-europe-globally-2020-ties-2016-warmest-year-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">0.4°C warmer than 2019</a>, the previous hottest year on record. The Arctic and northern Siberia also saw particularly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/08/climate-crisis-experts-2020-joint-hottest-year-ever-recorded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extreme average temperatures in 2020</a>, with a large region 3°C warmer than the long-term average, and some locations more than 6°C warmer. This led Arctic sea ice to shrink to its <a href="http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2020/09/arctic-sea-ice-decline-stalls-out-at-second-lowest-minimum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second-lowest extent</a> on record in september 2020. 
All this occurred in the year that we saw a <a href="https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/12/3269/2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7% drop in worldwide greenhouse gas emissions</a> due to the global shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally the burning of fossil fuels released <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">34.1 billion tonnes</a> of carbon dioxide in 2020, down 2.3 billion tonnes from the previous year. The most<a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> dramatic reduction</a> in emissions was seen in the transport sector, especially road traffic, with a steep dive in April when countries across the world had imposed strict limits on travel. Emissions from aviation were also reduced drastically, with a reduction of <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-carbon-project-coronavirus-causes-record-fall-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">75%</a> seen during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns. At the start of December 2020, emissions from road transport and aviation were still lower than their December 2019 levels, by <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-carbon-project-coronavirus-causes-record-fall-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% and 40% respectively</a>. 
Why is it that in the year in which the coronavirus pandemic drove one of the largest, most dramatic drops in human CO2 emissions ever recorded, did we see an increase in warming? It&#8217;s all to do with how long CO2 remains in our atmosphere.

Throughout human history, the Earth&#8217;s climate has been changing. But the changes we are seeing now are happening much faster than they would do naturally. This is because of humans emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 
Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in a process called the greenhouse effect. When the sun’s energy reaches the Earth, some of it is absorbed by the Earth&#8217;s surface, and the rest is reflected back outwards. Most of this goes back into space, but some is absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-radiated back towards the Earth, causing further warming. The greenhouse effect is a natural process, without which the average temperature on the Earth would be <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/focus-areas/environment/greenhouse%20gases#:~:text=The%20natural%20greenhouse%20effect%20is,approximately%2033%20degrees%20Celsius%20cooler." target="_blank" rel="noopener">-18°C</a>. 
However, human activities are accelerating this process by putting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, meaning that more heat is re-radiated back towards the Earth and leading to increased levels of warming. CO2 is the single most important greenhouse gas directly released by human activity. It is produced in high quantities by human sources and it stays in the atmosphere for a long time. This CO2 builds up in the atmosphere and continues to cause warming year after year.

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The difference between emissions and concentrations

The carbon dioxide that we release into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, industry processes, and deforestation is referred to as emissions. These are measured by the amount of greenhouse gas that we release into the atmosphere each year. 
The carbon dioxide that we release stays in the atmosphere for a very long time. This means that when we release more CO2 it adds to the big store of CO2 that is already there. The amount of CO2 that is actually in the atmosphere is called the CO2 concentration. It&#8217;s this store of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that traps the Earth&#8217;s heat, leading to climate change. The atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased dramatically in recent decades due to human emissions. Currently it is about <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">415 parts per million</a> (ppm).

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Each year as we emit more and more, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere gets higher and higher. But even if we stopped emitting any greenhouse gases right now, the emissions we have already released over the past 200 years would still be there to cause warming. This is because CO2 has such a long lifetime. It is estimated that <a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/briefings/Short_Lived_Promise.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15-40% </a>of the increase in CO2 due to fossil fuels is expected to remain in the atmosphere for over 1000 years. 
One analogy, used by the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-what-impact-will-the-coronavirus-pandemic-have-on-atmospheric-co2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon brief</a>, is the filling up of a bath from a tap. If the tap represents CO2 emissions and the water level in the bath is the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, then reducing emissions slightly is the same as slightly turning the tap down. Water is still flowing into the bath and so the level is still rising, just a bit slower. In the same way reducing emissions slightly does not immediately reduce concentrations of CO2, it only slows down the rate of increase. The carbon dioxide humans have already emitted can remain in the atmosphere for a hundred years; some of it could last <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/06/25/covid-19-impacts-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tens of thousands of years</a>.

What effect has the COVID-19 pandemic had? 

This explains why we didn&#8217;t immediately see an effect of the drop in emissions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Although less CO2 was emitted in 2020 than in previous years, the CO2 that was emitted still added to the ongoing-build up in the atmosphere. 
One study predicted that across the whole of 2020, CO2 levels in the atmosphere would rise by <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-what-impact-will-the-coronavirus-pandemic-have-on-atmospheric-co2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.48ppm</a> (parts per million). This increase is <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-what-impact-will-the-coronavirus-pandemic-have-on-atmospheric-co2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">0.32ppm smaller</a> than if there had been no lockdown, but it is still an increase in the total atmospheric concentration, and since warming is related to cumulative emissions, the overall amount of avoided warming will be minimal. Until net global emissions reduce to zero, CO2 will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere and drive further change.

Hopefully this article has made it a bit clearer why the drop in emissions caused by lockdowns hasn&#8217;t perhaps had the impact on the climate that we may have hoped for. We need to see a continued reduction in emissions year after year, before this will start to impact significantly on the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The UK Met Office has issued a forecast that the CO2 levels in the atmosphere will pass a new milestone in 2021 &#8211; being <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2021/2021-carbon-dioxide-forecast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50% higher than before the industrial revolution</a>. This not only means that we have released a massive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also the rate at which we have done so has increased significantly. It took over 200 years for the levels to increase by 25%, but now at just 30 years later we are approaching a 50% increase. 
Even if we reduce emissions now, it can take a while for these to have an effect on temperatures. This can seem demoralising, but it is why it is so important to act now. Our actions will take a while to impact on temperatures and there&#8217;s a certain amount of warming already baked in. We can’t allow any more warming to happen.
It is estimated that emissions need to decrease by <a href="https://www.unep.org/interactive/emissions-gap-report/2019/#:~:text=Today%2C%20we%20need%20to%20reduce,are%20ambitious%2C%20but%20still%20possible." target="_blank" rel="noopener">7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030 </a>to be on track to achieve the 1.5°C goal. Last year we roughly achieved the 7% reduction needed. This year we need to decrease 7.6% again from last year&#8217;s emissions, and then 7.6% below this in 2022 and so on. Each year must have a reduction of 7.6% on the year before that. 
So, last year showed a good start if you just look at emissions. But think about what it took for us to get there. Over 2.5 million people have now died from coronavirus, millions were out of work, car traffic in April was almost half of what it normally is, and air traffic virtually stopped completely. We need policies and action now to reduce emissions in a more stable and sustainable way.

How might we achieve the emissions reductions needed? 

We need rapid decarbonisation of the energy sector. Sadly <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">84.3% of our energy</a> still comes from fossil fuels, which release CO2 into the atmosphere. We need to rapidly transition away from these polluting energy sources and towards clean renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar and hydro energy. 
We also need a global shift towards sustainable and climate-smart agriculture. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">26% of worldwide emissions </a>come from the agricultural sector, but by employing methods such as agroforestry, crop rotations, crop diversification, precision agriculture and many more we can ensure that enough food can be made on the same land indefinitely, without depleting our natural resources and minimising emissions. We also need policies and action to reduce deforestation and land clearance, particularly from the agricultural sector. 
Investments in industrial innovations are also needed to decarbonise more difficult sectors &#8211; such as the steel industry, and to tackle some of the open problems such as the need for better energy storage for wind and solar energy and improved electric batteries.

We all have a role to play if we are to achieve the emissions reductions needed. Bill Gates in his book <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/My-new-climate-book-is-finally-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘How to avoid a climate disaster’</a> wisely highlighted three key things that ordinary people can do. 
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<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Use your political voice &#8211; Vote for parties that put climate change on the agenda. Parties can disagree on tactics to help get to zero but it needs to be a primary goal. You can also use your voice to talk to people that you know about climate change, and bring them around to the cause, even if their general political opinions are different to yours. Maximise the power of your voice by engaging in activism and joining groups such as <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greenpeace</a>, <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Friends of the Earth</a>, <a href="https://fridaysforfuture.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fridays for Future</a> and <a href="https://extinctionrebellion.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extinction Rebellion</a>.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li aria-level="1">As a consumer, make the right choices &#8211; The old saying ‘vote with your wallet’ really applies here. It&#8217;s important to buy less, and to buy well. Only buy what you really need and when you do buy, choose the most sustainable option wherever possible. As a consumer you have power. If you buy an electric car, or buy artificial meat, it drives the rate of innovation up and makes a statement that more of this is needed.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li aria-level="1">As an employee, ask your company to take action &#8211; Engage the company you work with to take more action on sustainability within the organisation and their supply chain. One specific thing you can do is investigate your pension fund, and make sure that your money is supporting green funds. Learn about our <a href="https://ecologi.com/business">carbon offset programs for businesses.</a></li>
</ul>

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Achieving the emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 and to limit warming to 1.5°C isn&#8217;t going to be easy. It will need everyone to engage with the climate crisis and get involved in solving it. But we believe that we can do it. <a href="https://ecologi.com/plan">Sign up</a> to Ecologi today to help fund the world&#8217;s best climate solutions. Together we have the power to change the world.

Impact Reports

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A year of impact for our planet 

Read our annual Impact Report to see the incredible impact our Ecologi community has made in 2022.

As 2023 gets underway, it’s time to review the impact we’ve made over the past 12 months, and look back at all the important moments and milestones we shared in 2022. 
We’ve captured everything in our annual impact report, which looks back at a fantastic year of growth, diversification and collective action, all powered by our wonderful community of businesses and individuals. Join us as we recap another amazing year of impact (full report below). 
<h2>Here&#8217;s a taster of what&#8217;s inside</h2>
As an organisation that prioritises transparency, we wanted to pack as much into our report as possible. But this isn’t your standard PDF-marathon of stats and jargon. We’ve trimmed out the boring bits and tried to keep it light and simple, focusing just on the good stuff that makes a difference. 
We hope it shows what a community of like-minded businesses and individuals can achieve when they come together with a shared purpose.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Scaling and diversified our impact with a growing team, more projects and new products</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The launch of our new carbon footprinting tool, Ecologi Zero®</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Restoring nature and halting biodiversity loss with our incredible planting partners</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Improving transparency and accountability through partnerships and our publicly available climate impact strategy</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Exciting things on the horizon for 2023!</li>
</ul>
We’re incredibly grateful for the ongoing support and trust of our community. It’s safe to say that 2022 has been a phenomenal year of impact for Ecologi, entirely made possible by you. So give yourselves a pat on the back and see what we achieved together in our 2022 Impact Report.

<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aJPOZNSVI2rz-a8Yn7cc8OlMMmKeN-cc/view">Download</a> the Annual Impact Report.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/business/overview">Sign up</a> today to take real climate action with Ecologi 🌱

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Ecologi’s response to The Guardian investigation into Verra

A response from our CEO & Co-founder Elliot Coad, regarding The Guardian investigation into Verra.

You may have seen <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/theguardian/">The Guardian</a>’s recent investigation into rainforest carbon offsets. I wanted to address the concerns you may have &#8211; particularly around how we select our projects. 
The world’s forests, particularly biodiverse tropical rainforests, are vital to maintaining a healthy planet. But they&#8217;re at a critical point.
It’s widely acknowledged, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/carbon-markets-credits-offsets-deforestation-aoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including by the Guardian’s environment editor,</a> that carbon finance has a large role to play in preventing deforestation. When done properly, it provides crucial funding to high-quality forest protection projects, which have a positive impact on both the environment and local communities.
The investigation underscores the importance of ensuring that carbon offsetting projects are genuinely impactful. Our internal climate experts assess over 200 projects each month, before choosing to fund a carefully selected handful. We select our projects according to our <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/updates/how-ecologi-finds-and-funds-the-most-impactful-climate-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate impact regionalisation strategy</a>, which directs funding towards places with the greatest potential impact, and prioritises areas at greater risk of degradation. And to ensure that the methodologies used are the most up-to-date, we only buy recently issued carbon credits (issued within the last 5 years). 
In addition to our in-house due diligence, we work closely with organisations like <a href="https://www.sylvera.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sylvera</a>, the leading carbon intelligence platform. Sylvera independently verifies each of the reduced deforestation projects Ecologi supports, taking all of the factors outlined in the Guardian investigation into account, as well as other important co-benefits indicators, like the inclusion of Indigenous and local communities. The nature-based projects Ecologi supports are amongst the most highly rated by Sylvera. <a href="https://www.sylvera.com/blog/guardian-offsets-response" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here</a>’s their take on the Guardian investigation.
Carbon finance has a key role to play in the protection of forests from deforestation, as well as providing critical funding to other vital climate solutions. The Guardian article highlights some of the known challenges of certain projects, which <a href="https://www.sylvera.com/blog/an-introduction-to-jurisdictional-redd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are being rectified</a>. What’s most important right now is for the industry to keep evidencing impact as best as it can, and hold specific projects to account that fall below the required standard. This will be a big focus in 2023 &#8211; just last week a leading governance body announced it will <a href="https://icvcm.org/integrity-council-unveils-timetable-to-introduce-high-integrity-label-to-voluntary-carbon-market-in-q3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">label high-quality projects</a>. 
There are so many impactful projects out there and it’s essential that funding continues to flow into them.
Thank you, as ever, for your continued support.
Elliot
Ecologi CEO &amp; Co-founder

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Ecologi’s Eco Gift Guide - best ethical gift ideas from our community 

The best ethical gift ideas from our community 

Giving always feels good. Particularly at this time of year. And giving a carefully chosen gift from an ethical company making a positive impact on the world feels even better. No-one wants to give with one hand and take from our planet with the other, so why not dial that warm giving glow to the max by choosing something from Ecologi’s Eco Gift Guide? 
We have some really great ethical businesses offering amazing gifts right here in our Ecologi community, so we’re lucky enough to come across lots of hidden gems and rare treasures.  Here’s some of our top picks. Whether you&#8217;re looking for a secret santa pressie for colleagues or a festive thank you to your faves, we’ve got a suggestion for everyone, and an idea for all budgets…

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<h3>Pre-loved gadgets </h3>
E-waste is one of the fastest growing problem areas for our planet, and a typical new phone creates at least 79kg of CO2 emissions. So why not keep tech out of landfill by giving pre-loved gadgets a new home? You can get some great refurbished smartphones and tablets at <a href="https://reboxed.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reboxed. </a>

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<h3>Bathroom beauties </h3>
<a href="https://ethique.co.uk/collections/gift-packs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ethique</a> makes incredible cosmetic products such as shampoos and soap bars that are 100% free from plastic and palm oil, while also being carbon-neutral and vegan. Oh, and they smell amazing too!

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<h3>Sustainability with style</h3>
Up your accessories game with a range of stunning dungarees, hats, tees, bags and more from <a href="https://lucyandyak.com/collections/gifting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lucy &amp; Yak</a>. Everyone who’s had a hand in making these beautiful, high-quality garments is treated and paid fairly, and all of their organic cotton is <a href="https://global-standard.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GOTS certified. </a>

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<h3>Ecologi tree gifting </h3>
Why not give friends and colleagues <a href="https://ecologi.com/gifting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the gift of trees</a> this season? Our trees are planted all around the world in the places they’re needed most, and they do a world of good for local biodiversity and communities. Your recipient will also get their own virtual forest to watch grow. It’s a gift that will keep on giving, long into the future.

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<h3>Cosy candles </h3>
There’s no better way to cosy up a home than candlelight. <a href="https://good-candles.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Good Candles</a> are hand poured with responsibly sourced soy wax and 10% of all sales is donated to good causes, including planting trees with Ecologi!

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<h3>One-of-a-kind artworks </h3>
Bring a splash of inspiration into any home or office, with <a href="https://www.artfinder.com/#/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">authentic artwork</a> made by independent artists. Artfinder is on a mission to make art sustainable, accessible and affordable, while supporting artists to make a living doing what they love.

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<h3>Year-round bake offs </h3>
Treat any keen baker to a <a href="https://bakedin.co.uk/pages/gift-a-subscription" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baked In</a> subscription and they’ll love receiving a unique baking kit each month. You’ll be supporting a great company that exists to tackle food waste, while making their packaging as sustainable as possible and supporting local charities too.

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<h3>Greener gin</h3>
Know someone who likes a tipple? <a href="https://www.greenallsgin.com/greenergreenalls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greenall’s Gin</a> now produces a miraculous paper bottle (who knew?) reducing weight, carbon footprint and water usage. And if that’s not impressive enough they also plant a tree with Ecologi for every bottle sold!

One final thought, if you want to send a thank you card to colleagues and clients this year you can save unnecessary paper waste and give the postie a break by choosing a beautiful <a href="https://shop.wwf.org.uk/collections/ecards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WWF e-card</a>, featuring stunning photography of wildlife and nature.
We hope you’ve found something that fits the festive bill from this amazing community of ethical companies. Happy holidays and happy gifting!

2020 was the joint hottest year on record despite a 7% drop in greenhouse gas emissions. Why?

A record breaking 2020

Basics of carbon dioxide and climate

The difference between emissions and concentrations

What effect has the COVID-19 pandemic had?

Where do we go from here?

How might we achieve the emissions reductions needed?

What can individuals do?

More posts

Impact Report 2022: A year of impact for our planet

Ecologi’s response to The Guardian investigation into Verra

Ecologi’s Eco Gift Guide

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