Decarbonizing : The economy with the climate neutral certification (interview with austin whitman of climate neutral)
Austin Whitman (@AustinWhitman) is the CEO of Climate Neutral (@beclimateneutral), a new platform helping brands measure, reduce, and offset their entire carbon footprint in a comprehensive manner. He oversees all aspects of the organization in its mission to drive investment into greenhouse gas reductions, and brands that work with Climate Neutral and meet their standards can attain their label, Climate Neutral Certified.
In this podcast episode, Austin sheds light on how to assess the trustworthiness of a company when they announce that they're carbon neutral; how voluntary carbon-offset methods by companies in the private sector to address emissions, like the Climate Neutral Certification, differ in their potential than a government-run carbon tax; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Austin and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by Mining for Steal by Fuchsia
“I’m fairly confident that compared to any tax that is levied on businesses or other types of policies that would put a cap on business footprints, the scope of what we’re pricing is a lot greater than what those businesses would actually face under a typical policy. ”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological balance, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On what carbon markets are:
"What a carbon market does is it links up somebody who is willing to reduce a ton of carbon emissions or take a ton of carbon emissions from the atmosphere with somebody who wants to pay for someone to do that.
So basically, there are buyers of carbon and sellers of carbon. [Carbon markets] can be a little bit amorphous or difficult to understand, but fundamentally, it's simply about paying somebody for the service of reducing a ton of carbon.
They can exist within countries; they can exist within continents, within regions, within collaborations among states, or among companies. They can exist in a variety of different places."
On the difference between a government-run carbon tax versus Climate Neutral's certification approach:
"I'm fairly confident that compared to any tax that is levied on businesses or other types of policies that would put a cap on business footprints, the scope of what we're pricing is a lot greater than what those businesses would actually face under a typical policy.
And so the amount of carbon that's assessed a fee on and the amount of money that's raised over time could potentially be significantly larger [with Climate Neutral's approach] because of the larger footprint."
On creating effective communication around carbon footprints:
"When you ask a room full of people what their carbon footprint is, nobody knows, and nobody knows the impact of one decision versus another.
So by drawing this connection between carbon emissions and consumerism, we think there's a huge opportunity to educate people that every purchase they make has a carbon implication. And that will start to change how they think about the role of consumers."
Final words of wisdom:
“Connect! With where we are in the evolution of social media, there's an amazing number of opportunities to connect with people who are just as concerned as you are and passionate about finding solutions. Whatever that network might be, tap into it. Turn grassroots connections into more coordinated action.
With that, we will build a groundswell of support and make more progress on difficult issues than we would as individuals. Join arms, connect, and be part of the global community.”
