At a glance
How do you calculate the carbon emissions of each trip?\ How can you offset your ecological footprint?
Are you travelling by car, motorbike, train, plane, boat, … ?
These means of transport are fast, but have the disadvantage of releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, thereby increasing our ecological footprint.
How do you calculate the CO2 emissions of each trip?
How can you offset your ecological footprint?
The carbon emissions of motorised travel
Travelling by plane, car, motorbike, train or boat inevitably means that travellers contribute to CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. And we know that the emission of this gas has a significant impact on our environment and contributes to global warming.
Calculating the actual carbon emissions isn't easy, as it depends on the parameters taken into account, or not, in the calculation. As a result, the results of these calculations are often subject to debate.
Here, however, are a few examples of emissions (source: chiffres-carbone.fr):
A Brussels – Tenerife flight (Canary Islands): the equivalent of 1,191.39 kg of CO2 emissions
A Brussels – New York flight: the equivalent of 2,290.35 kg of CO2
A car journey Brussels – Paris: the equivalent of 80 kg of CO2
A car journey Brussels – Rome: the equivalent of 379.38 kg of CO2
A train journey from Brussels to Barcelona: the equivalent of 50.30 kg of CO2
A motorbike trip from Brussels to Strasbourg: the equivalent of 63.70 kg of CO2
A trip on foot or by bicycle: 0 kg of CO2...!
Calculating your carbon emissions
Online, you'll find plenty of CO2 emission calculators.
Some airlines also offer calculation tools that let consumers get an idea of their emissions.
A few examples:
Is it possible to offset your CO2 emissions and reduce your ecological footprint?
It's clear that the best way to limit your ecological footprint is to choose (as often as possible) the most eco-friendly and least polluting means of transport (bicycle, walking, any kind of non-motorised travel, …), but it's equally clear that this choice isn't always possible or feasible.
Businesses: CO2 offsetting projects are part of the corporate social responsibility commitments of many companies. Aware of their impact on the environment, some transport companies also commit to reducing their ecological footprint by sponsoring environmental or climate protection projects, or by offering their customers the chance to do so.
Individuals: On an individual level, consumers can also provide financial support to projects aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in other parts of the world, thereby also offsetting the emissions caused by their travel. These projects are often certified by the United Nations, promote environmental sustainability and offer socio-economic benefits for the local population.
Online, you'll find organisations that act as intermediaries in funding such projects, allowing individuals to provide financial support to them on a voluntary basis.
Here are a few examples:
