Acceleration of Global Drive Towards Net-Zero and Sustainability by Promoting Civil and Social Engagement

Denny Lee（China Productivity Center Agricultural Innovation Department I）

Climate change and various natural disasters caused by global warming have made nations all over the world increasingly aware that controlling the rise in temperatures on Earth is an urgent priority. As a result, net-zero emissions by 2050 has become the shared goal for all countries in the world according to the discussion at United Nations Climate Change Conferences during recent years. Each country has proposed its own carbon reduction policies and response measures based on its national circumstances and industrial characteristics.

Whilst carbon reduction strategies in different countries place top priorities on the development and achievement of energy transitions, low-carbon manufacturing processes, and carbon capture technologies, the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector highlights that changes in lifestyles and behaviors of the public could contribute 8% of the total carbon reduction towards the global target of net-zero emissions. Fundamentally, greenhouse gas emissions arise from the demand for products and services required for the day-to-day life of the general public. If the public behavior does not align with the transition towards net zero emissions, all the government-led net-zero initiatives will be significantly undermined.

Therefore, countries such as Japan, South Korea, and the United States have incorporated green living as a key strategy for carbon reduction alongside energy and industrial transition measures. By implementing policies such as green consumption, zero-waste low-carbon diets, and low-carbon transportation networks, governments aim to engage citizens in the journey toward net-zero emissions. Hopefully this encourages proactive participation that can significantly reduce carbon emissions from lifestyle-related industries.

However, lifestyle changes among the public do not happen overnight. When companies are encouraged to offer green products and services for the public to purchase, how can the public be effectively guided to adjust their behavior for sustainability and carbon reduction? This article shares case studies from both domestic and international contexts and explores various attempts to inspire stakeholders to collectively promote the lifestyle transformation of people in Taiwan. By fostering gradual behavioral shifts, these efforts aim to achieve carbon reduction targets and move toward sustainable living.

CitiCAP in Finland: Helping Citizens Exchange Personal Carbon Credits

To encourage meaningful public participation in carbon reduction, making it easy for people to track their carbon footprint and emissions is the first step toward a green lifestyle. In Lahti, the ninth-largest city in Finland, energy-consuming industries once caused serious environmental pollution. However, the local government’s proactive implantation of industrial and environmental policies since the 1990s have successfully reduced the city’s carbon emissions by 70%. In recognition of these efforts, Lahti won the European Green Capital Award in 2021 and became a global model for sustainability.

In addition to investing in new technologies such as waste-to-energy power plants, the local government aimed to involve citizens directly in carbon reduction efforts by launching the mobile app CitiCAP. The design concept behind CitiCAP is simple and inspired by carbon credits and carbon trading. The app allows citizens to accumulate credits through carbon-saving actions and exchange these credits for tangible economic benefits.

First of all, the app helps citizens check and calculate their personal “carbon allowance.” If citizens adopt eco-friendly behaviors —such as replacing car trips with cycling or taking a bus for commuting —their carbon emissions decrease and they earn virtual euros based on the amount of carbon reduced. Virtual euros can be redeemed for practical rewards, including tickets for public venues, movies and swimming pools, and free coffee. This reward system significantly enhances citizen engagement. According to statistics from the Lahti government, the app has successfully motivated citizens to participate in carbon reduction and directly resulted in a 32% reduction in mobility-related emissions.

Going forward, the developer of CitiCAP plans to include the calculation of carbon footprint related to food and drink into the app, so that emission tracking can be extended into different aspects of daily life. Meanwhile, more reward schemes will be introduced to make CitiCAP a comprehensive platform for personal carbon credit trading.

GreenHope Promotes Personal Carbon Passbooks in Taiwan

GreenHope is a Taiwanese startup with a team of experts in spatial information decision-making and blockchain technology. They noticed that countries and major corporations around the world have come up with carbon reduction targets and strategies since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. However, there has been no avenue for the public to actively participate in these efforts.

They also noticed that the ESG initiatives of many companies are mostly compensatory activities such as beach cleanups, tree planting, or purchasing agricultural products from small-scale farms. This overlooks the fact that corporate carbon emissions originate from the fulfillment of a variety of the public’s needs.

Hence, GreenHope believes that companies should take the initiative by planning sustainability mechanisms and offering green products or services, to reduce carbon emissions from the source. However, given the limited purchasing power of the general public, the key issue for businesses is how to provide sufficient economic incentives to encourage the public to change habits and choose more sustainable and green products.

To address this issue and promote continued lifestyle changes among the public, GreenHope leveraged its expertise in blockchain technology to develop a personal carbon passbook and Tanji, a carbon credit collection platform, to convert eco-friendly actions into personal data and digital assets, which can then be used in transactions with businesses to offset the spending on green products.

With the support of emerging technologies, the public no longer passively allows corporations to control their consumption data. Instead, this data becomes a personal asset that earns corresponding rewards. Meanwhile, businesses can establish deeper engagement with the public and develop a market segment for green products by offering various cap-and-trade schemes.

GreenHope believes that the next step should be the elimination of the gap between the public and businesses in the understanding about green consumption or behaviors, so that both sides gain greater benefits. This will encourage the public and companies to get involved further in the use and offering of green products.

Public Participation Promotes Sustainable Development

As indicated in the case studies above, it is crucial to engage more members of the public when sustainability becomes a major global issue, not just a target for governments or businesses.

All the examples shared herein demonstrate how technology can bring the concept of carbon credits to day-to-day life, by enabling citizens to earn rewards on the journey towards sustainability and use these rewards to access more services or offset the cost of green consumption. As artificial intelligence, big data, and other technologies become more mature and prevalent in the future, an individual’s carbon emissions from daily activities can be calculated faster. This will pave the way for gradual implementation of personal carbon trading.

However, before personal carbon trading can be fully realized, it is necessary to first open up dialogues with the society so that members of the public can translate sustainability concepts into concrete actions and utilize the obtained carbon credit assets correctly. To this end, governments, businesses, and citizens need to start discussions and planning. Take South Korea for example, this begins with school education so that children can understand the carbon impact of their daily activities from an early age.

The South Korean government has implemented AI tools in five elementary schools to measure the amount of food waste generated by students and convert it into greenhouse gas emissions data. This initiative helps children grasp the connection between leftovers and climate change and learn about effective ways to reduce uneaten food. In addition to a variety of carbon reduction measures, subsidies, incentives and marketing campaigns on social media can be used to effectively interact with the public. Educational outreach to more citizens will strengthen the public awareness of sustainability and green actions.

It is hoped that given the appropriate guidance, members of the public can learn to use their personal carbon credits, contribute to carbon reductions, and play a proactive role in advancing global sustainable development.