The tragedy of the commons Are you familiar with the term commons? Our atmosphere also represents such common property, which everyone is allowed to use and unfortunately also overuse as they see fit. The consequence of this overuse is the global climate crisis. However, individuals believe they only have a limited influence when it comes to climate protection, which leads to a lack of sense of responsibility. Similar to the neglect of public places, such as litter lying around in parks or the lack of cleanliness in toilets at highway service stations. It is the same principle: the tragedy of the commons. How can the dilemma between self-interest and the common good be resolved? 📢 Read the complete article
Climate policy with majority support - a task that is tantamount to squaring the circle! This article aims to show how hopeless the systemic intertwining of politics and business is and how great the general contradiction is between the particular interests of citizens and the need for swift action to protect the climate. This is not intended as a criticism of political actors, because this is simply in the DNA of our democratic system. Robert Habeck has a task to solve that is on a par with squaring the circle. Because in the current system, the political options for action with regard to the task of "reducing emissions to meet the climate target" are similarly hopeless within Germany and at European level. No matter what the government tries to implement, it always steps on someone's toes, or someone's sinecure is always affected. There is a lack of great honesty - that nobody has a plan to get us out of this dilemma. Read the complete article
Our founding member Angela is EU Climate Pact Ambassador from the very beginning since 2021. For a citizen engagement activity she conducted a book review of „Exit-Strategy climate currency ECO – reaching our climate targets with personal emissions budgets“. The authors argue that the political measures taken to date are not sufficient to achieve the climate targets. They therefore propose shifting emissions trading to the citizen level and introducing a fair per capita CO2 budget. The participants have reviewed various sections of the book in several meetings and discussed this alternative climate protection approach. ➡️ The outcome has shown that in principle the idea of a personal, tradable emission budget is very well accepted. Especially the fact that everything would receive an additional price label in the climate currency ECO (Earth Carbon Obligation) that would make the complete CO2 footprint visible. 💡 Also the fact, that rich people would have to pay for their fossil over consumption by buying further needed CO2 quotas from those who don’t need their budget in total. 📢 In the end there have been mainly doubts of the realization. Some of the book review participants have reservations regarding the political acceptance of such a system. 💚 As conclusion it can be said that for most of the participants this citizen engagement was very helpful to mainly understand the dimensions that are needed in emissions reduction to achieve the climate goals. They see personal carbon budgets helpful for collective action and individual responsibility in tackling the climate crisis👍🗺️ If you would like to form your own opinion, you have the opportunity to download the book as a free e-book: english e-Book german e-book
In a world where CO2 emissions do not stop at national borders, it is time for governments to pull together. 💪 🌎 Why cooperation? - Climate change is a global challenge that affects us all. It's time we stop blocking each other and work together instead. - A cross-border model that provides for a fair distribution of emissions to citizens could not only advance climate protection, but also reduce social inequalities. 🤝 What can governments do? - Set common targets: The EU should introduce initial per capita CO2 budgets in order to reliably combat climate change. - Border controls: Border adjustments will protect domestic defossilization and create an incentive to join the system of personal emissions budgets 💬 Our appeal: - Let's work together for the introduction of a per capita CO2 budget! This will set the ecological guard rails within which everyone decides for themselves how to integrate climate protection into their lives - and not whether! - Become an ECO ambassador: Share our vision of a society in which we consumers take control of climate protection. Visit our website and find out more: SaveClimate.earth
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Together we are the solution to the climate crisis
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Cooperation is key!
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We need to be united
🌍💚 The ECO climate currency makes that each and every one of us can be part of the solution to the climate crisis and become an agent of change. 🔄 With the ECO, we can compare the climate impact of products with each other. 🛍️🌿 ECO climate currency instead of CO2 tax for a sustainable future! 💪 Find out more about the social and fair alternative to CO2 taxes and the emissions trading for the industry: SaveClimate.Earth
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We are all part and parcel of the solutions that we need, that is why we must come together!
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Super! Keep it up!
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i agree together we can change climate crisis
With the #ECO climate currency (Earth Carbon Obligation), each of us becomes a crucial part of the solution. 💡Because everyone receives the ECO as an ecological basic income. It is your personal CO2 budget, and you decide what to spend it on. Find out more and visit the website of SaveClimate.Earth - a german climate protection organization
There are many reasons for introducing personal carbon budgets. In this picture overview we have focused on the 3 most important ones. If you are interested in all the conceptual advantages compared to the current climate policy means of reducing emissions, we recommend the chapter of the same name in the book "Exit Strategy Climate Currency ECO" - the free e-book is available at our website.
ℹ️ Do you already know our blog? >> ECOlogical blog << Your way to a climate-friendly future 🌈 We take up current reports on the topic of climate protection and comment on them in the context of the ECO climate currency. Feel free to share our articles 💚
📢 Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Germany and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirm that climate protection efforts to date are far from sufficient and that we are by no means on course. New and innovative approaches are therefore urgently needed to effectively tackle the challenges of climate change. 💡 Our proposal: a per capita CO2 budget Want to find out more? ➡️ Then visit our website www.saveclimate.earth
Unfortunately, we humans are all selfish to a greater or lesser extent and not particularly good at behaving sensibly for the common good. This applies at all levels of our society. For our political leaders as well as for the corporate leaders in whose factories all the CO2-intensive things we consume every day are produced, and of course for ourselves. As long as we neglect this crucial detail, all efforts to protect the climate effectively will have no chance of success.
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- we can't keep the economic behaviour and pattern of consumerism and striving for growth - our model can't be about making more money and buying more stuff- we have to have a paradigm shift based on sustainability and people living within their means and slowing down growth and consumption- no one wants to pioneer this because they're afraid. People measure success through growth of wealth- we need a new way to value success- how can we put value on having less and having a lower carbon footprint? We look at the biggest electric SUV as being environmentally friendly where it should be no car or the smallest EV vehicle to meet your needs- that isn't what people envy or aspire to at the moment. Sustainability means creating and using less and only what we need.
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In our opinion, we are hurtling towards the cliff, unchecked. We have known what was coming since the 1980s. But even today, politicians are still constantly rowing back. Even the EU is thinking about abolishing the ban on combustion engines because it realizes that there is a lack of acceptance among citizens, because the charging infrastructure for e-cars is not progressing fast enough and so on.
When it comes to climate change, we often talk about tipping points. Social tipping points also occur in our society. Social tipping points are events that suddenly and fundamentally change a system - often triggered by a committed minority. For example, the greta thunberg effect, which gave rise to the fridays for future movement. The idea of the ECO climate currency could also become such a social tipping point: a turning point for the way we think about consumption, climate protection and the value of resources. It rewards climate-friendly behaviour and thus increases the pressure on industry to defossilize. Read more and visit our website www.saveclimate.earth
A majority of Germans want politicians to step up climate protection. But most of the people reject it as soon as climate-damaging behavior is sanctioned by higher prices. The ECO climate currency offers a promising alternative that emphasizes individual self-efficacy while respecting planetary boundaries. Find out more and visit our website www.saveclimate.earth
📢 Isn't it ironic that the world is striving for climate protection, but at the same time "cheap, harmful and irresponsible" seems to be all the rage? How else can you explain the success of low-cost providers such as TEMU & Co? 💡 That's why we need to be honest and recognize the systemic dilemma. 💡 It takes the wisdom to understand its climate-damaging structure and 💡 It takes the courage for a paradigm shift to establish a new model. ➡️our solution: personal CO2 budgets. Find out more and visit our website
Everything else is window-dressing in fine words with the aim of making the population believe that everything is "on track" and that politicians will somehow act quickly and effectively enough to deal with the crisis. We are not on track and these are the reasons on systemic side: The Systemic problem
Even without private jets, we ALL live above our CO2 budget - because we can, because we want to, because we are selfish - more or less. And also because we simply lack climate-friendly consumption alternatives on a realistic scale. So we like to focus on small things and believe that we have already done something good when we buy LED lamps or switch off the camera during video conferences to save a little data volume - true to the motto: every little bit counts (unfortunately not). Many of us are also simply not yet aware of the enormous dimension of the necessary reduction in emissions. And this is precisely where the dilemma lies. We like to blame others who lead an even more emissions-intensive lifestyle than we do ourselves, thus supposedly relativizing our responsibility. But this finger-pointing leads nowhere, except to the division of our society. The problem is systemic and can only be solved as such. Namely by means of a systemic solution that plays in the same league as the problem itself. Our proposal: a personal CO2 budget for everyone in the same amount to pay for individual fossil fuel consumption. Find out more about this idea and visit our website: www.saveclimate.earth
#Climate shaming and #fingerpointing won't get us anywhere. We need a #CO2Budget solution that holds us all accountable. 💚 If we emit more CO2 than we can afford, we have to buy additional quota from those who consume less. Sounds like a fair and equitable exchange, doesn't it? Would you like to find out more about and how this idea could be implemented at EU level? Then visit the english website of the German NPO SaveClimate.Earth - Organization for Sustainable Economy.
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This is good idea we need to be considerate about our climate and plan effectively
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We however need to call out those destroying the climate.
📢Climate crisis - why politics CAN'T fix it! What we can deduce from the current farmers' protests in Germany with regard to the expected effectiveness of climate policy: The current protest by farmers in Berlin has once again impressively demonstrated that it is part of a long chain of resistance in which previously planned climate policy measures are subsequently watered down or reduced to a minimal compromise - similar to the Building Energy Act (GEG). In principle, nobody wants unchecked climate change, but as soon as the desired measures affect their own wallet or personal comfort zone, the willingness to support them is significantly reduced. 💡This is why we cannot expect our democracy to set the course quickly and effectively in response to the crisis. Even if this political system is otherwise sensible because it (usually) produces balanced laws and prevents extremes, it reacts far too sluggishly when it comes to climate policy and inherently evades pressure. ➡️We should finally recognize this fact and dare to make the consequent paradigm shift! 🍃Limited personal emissions budgets by means of a complementary climate currency ECO (Earth Carbon Obligation) intrinsically motivate the industry to decarbonize their production processes. This is because they produce what we (can) buy with our limited budgets. In this way, the technology that is able to achieve the greatest reduction in emissions at the lowest cost and with the least effort is automatically applied - and this without the need to implement often unpopular political measures and monitor compliance with them. 🌐More information: www.saveclimate.earth
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Together, we can push for the paradigm shift needed to ensure a healthy planet for generations to come.
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I think it is important to reach an agreeable compromise between the farmers and the German government. The farmers grow food consumed by most of the European Union and hurting their pockets and farms means prices of basic commodities will keep on rising without a significant change in climate being visible. I therefore think if the government of Germany really wants to deal with climate change it should; 1. Cut on government travel which significantly increases carbon emissions 2. Fund R&D in renewables and EVs that are capable of substituting tractors used by the farmers. 3. Cut on funding activities that increase Germany's carbon footprint within and outside of Germany (like any war funding should be scrapped as it comes with extra carbon footprint) 4. Work with the farmers to come up with policies acceptable by all parties. It is not advisable to agitate the person who feeds you and a war with farmers is one that does not end well for the people of Germany who should be the German government's primary concern. Efforts to go after farmers while the government is actively flying and issuing licenses to private jets as well as funding crisis are null and will only hurt all parties involved.
CO2 tax with rebate is not much more than a "left pocket right pocket" self-deception and rather a well-designed marketing sleight of hand. Politicians are faced with a major challenge. Legislators must adhere to agreed emission reduction targets, but are dependent on the mass approval of the population for implementation. After all, if the people cannot be brought along on this path, poll ratings will plummet and re-election is at risk (see the recent debacle with the Heating Act). The chosen path: the aim is to reduce emissions by trying to make the consumption of fossil fuels less attractive by increasing the CO2 tax. In order to avoid another rejection similar to that of the GEG, an attempt is being made to make the price increases more palatable to citizens through a reimbursement system called "climate money". However, this maneuver is nothing more than a well-designed marketing sleight of hand, because: the current system lacks climate-friendly consumption alternatives on a realistic scale. So although people are reluctant to pay the surcharge, they do pay it - out of necessity. There is also the effect of price elasticity. Price increases do not lead to a reduction in consumption to the same extent. This applies in particular to essentials such as mobility and heating. After all, we all still have to drive to work and nobody wants to freeze in their living room. If at all, the emission savings from such measures are in the single-digit percentage range and are therefore a long way from the emissions reduction target. In addition, low-income earners are particularly hard hit by this (and any other) price increase measure. Lower-income households are disproportionately burdened by a CO2 tax, as their potential for savings by cutting back and doing without is particularly low. Furthermore, this "solution" completely ignores the so-called "rebound effect". Emissions saved in one place through restriction and renunciation (or also through more efficient technologies) are spent (not least due to the rebate) on consumption elsewhere - for example on an additional vacation. **CO2 tax with rebate is therefore little more than a "left pocket right pocket" self-deception** The simplified equation: money = emissions gets to the heart of the matter. We cannot solve the global climate crisis within the existing monetary system. Achieving the targeted and urgently needed reduction in emissions is therefore more than questionable.
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Is it truly an effective solution or just a self-deception within the existing monetary system?
Global monthly temperature from 1940 to 2023
Global monthly temperature from 1940 to 2023
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/12/Global_monthly_temperature_from_1940_to_2023
##The illusion of the "honourable businessman", or why industry will not voluntarily decarbonize## "The term honorable merchant describes the model that has grown historically in Europe for responsible participants in economic life. It stands for a pronounced sense of responsibility for one's own company, for society and for the environment. An honorable businessman bases his conduct on virtues that are aimed at long-term economic success without conflicting with the interests of society. He operates sustainably." (Source: Wikipedia) However, ethical behavior as a businessman, or as a participant in the capitalist economic system in general, is only possible to the extent that competition allows. In other words: If my competitor does not behave in accordance with this code of the "honorable merchant", it is no longer possible for others to do so either, as they would otherwise lose their competitiveness. Therefore, in the context of one of the most pressing problems of our time, the fight against climate change and the associated need to reduce emissions, we should decouple the profit motive from ecological necessities. Personal tradable emissions budgets offer the opportunity for such a system change. Realized through a complementary resource currency as a CO2 equivalent. This free ecological basic income is made available to all citizens to pay for their individual CO2 consumption. A concept for an initial introduction at EU level is available with the climate currency ECO model and is supported by renowned climate scientist Professor Schellnhuber, among others.
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Providing citizens with free basic income in CO2 equivalents allows them to make conscious choices about their consumption patterns and incentivizes reductions in individual emissions.
##Rethinking climate protection## *Moving away from a purely economic approach* Yes, of course we are making some progress. But climate protection on a voluntary basis is progressing far too slowly. Certainly, a lot is already happening in the expansion of renewables - both from the government and the private sector. More and more private individuals are also installing solar panels on their roofs. All well and good, but the pace is far too slow - both nationally and internationally. Unfortunately, many people are not even aware of the dimensions of the necessary reduction in emotions. The core of the problem: Investments in renewables are largely viewed purely from an economic perspective. This is in no way to be understood as an accusation. Nobody should feel offended. After all, we all behave according to the rules of our economic system - of necessity! However, this makes it more difficult for us to approach the issue from the necessary existential-ecological perspective, which is why we are not moving at a pace commensurate with the crisis. Although investments in renewables are certainly economical in the medium term, in the short term they mean high investments, which unfortunately are often shied away from. We should therefore decouple the issue of climate protection from the monetary system and create a completely different, more effective and fairer incentive system. >>We should provide people with an ecological basic income by means of a complementary climate currency, which they can use to pay the ecological price of their consumption in addition to the economic price>> From now on, we consumers could proactively opt for the more climate-friendly option, because this new ecological price of every product would create the necessary transparency. Our changed purchasing behaviour would then automatically create the necessary transformation pressure on the economy to decarbonize much faster - without the need to enact, implement and monitor often unpopular political measures. Personal tradable emissions budgets using a complementary climate currency would also redistribute wealth from the top to the bottom and thus help to reduce the wealth gap. We consumers would finally be able to choose from a much wider range of ecological consumption options instead of having to make our contribution to climate protection through restrictions and sacrifices. Not least for this reason, a much greater acceptance of the population could be expected.
It is simply naïve to believe that we only need to inform people more intensively about the catastrophic state of the climate in order to finally bring about a change in behavior that is beneficial to the common good. Within politics, the economy or our society, we do not have a problem of knowledge, but we simply have a problem of implementation - caused by our capitalist economic system, which is calibrated for growth and profit and intrinsically shies away from investing in climate protection. It is primarily a problem of the laws of competition. Because in this system, the market participant who behaves in a way that is useful for their selfish pursuit of profit rather than for the common good has an advantage. This is another reason why our economy will never voluntarily decarbonize at the required pace. Climate protection must therefore be decoupled from the monetary system, e.g. through a complementary carbon currency. This could be issued to all citizens as an ecological basic income in the same amount and free of charge. We would have a separate climate account for this and would now have to use it to pay for our individual CO2 consumption. From now on, everything would have a separate climate price tag in this currency. In addition to the economic price, this would now also give everything its true ecological price. This is because this new currency transparently represents the total emissions that occur along the entire value chain as a CO2 equivalent. Such a CO2 currency enables us consumers to make climate-friendly consumption decisions and contributes to self-efficacy. ➡️More information on this idea, which is also supported by renowned climate scientists such as Professor Schellnhuber, can be found on the website of the German climate protection NPO SaveClimate.Earth
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This proposal deserves serious exploration and discussion.
🌍 Join in now! With our free postcard campaign, you have the chance to actively support the ECO climate currency model and bring your concerns directly to the attention of EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra. Why postcards? 📬 Emails often get lost in the flood of messages. Personally addressed postcards stand out and have a more significant impact. With our campaign, we want to address Mr. Hoekstra directly and encourage him to campaign for personally tradable CO2 budgets for citizens. What does the postcard say? 📝 We are calling on the EU Commissioner for Climate Action to support a legislative initiative to implement the "ALTERNATIVE CLIMATE CONCEPT". This includes - the introduction of a complementary, digital carbon resource currency "ECO" (Earth Carbon Obligation) - the monthly payment of the ECO as an ecological basic income in the form of a free personal CO2 budget for all EU citizens - the pricing of all goods and services with the ECO as a separate emissions price tag Participation is easy: Fill out the form: https://saveclimate.jimdofree.com/join/postcard-campaign/ SaveClimate.Earth will do the rest and send the postcard to Brussels in your name. Every single contribution counts! You can find more information about the concept at: www.saveclimate.earth 💚 This campaign is free, but invaluable for our common goal.
https://youtu.be/1dZe_yrdYy4 Kevin Anderson is a renowned British climate scientist who conducts research at the universities of Manchester and Uppsala. He is a former director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research and says "if citizens use their power, they can establish a different power structure that will lead us out of the current impasse". The civil society movements and protests give Anderson hope that the turnaround, which is still technically possible, can be enforced politically ..." The climate currency ECO could be such an instrument to set in motion a social tipping point that initiates a paradigm shift in climate policy. Because in its function as an ecological basic income for all citizens, it makes the individual a decisive player in the fight against global warming. Consumers' personal CO2 budgets define the ecological guard rails within which we can decide for ourselves how we integrate climate protection into our lives - not whether. Consumption decisions we make ourselves are more effective than any bans or regulatory measures, such as the CO2 tax. For more information click here
Every little bit counts (or doesn't)! Saving emissions on a "small" scale is highly commendable and certainly not a mistake - but it only brings us a small step closer to the desired goal. We are simply running out of time. It's similar to the approach only briefly taking my foot off the accelerator to regulate my speed when I am driving too fastly and will come into a curve. And then ask myself in amazement after the accident: "But why wasn't it enough? I slowed down a bit before the bend!". You could describe our current course in climate policy in a similar way: too little and too late! If I don't brake fast and hard enough, I'll drive the car into the wall! The danger of our small-step climate policy measures is that once we start harvesting the "low hanging fruits", we forget that there is no alternative to turn THE VERY BIG WHEELS NOW. The wrong impression is being conveyed, namely that we are on course because we have already taken action. But we are by no means on course. Because if we don't take the necessary big steps after the easy-to-implement measures (and we won't), we will have wasted valuable time. In addition, such a scenario clouds our view of the enormous dimension and the urgency required to reduce emissions. The dilemma: No matter what effective climate protection measures politicians try to implement, as soon as they reach the comfort zone of citizens or their wallets, they lose the approval of the vast majority and effective laws are watered down to the point of meaninglessness. The main thing is that the people are somewhat appeased. Our proposal for a paradigm shift: Cap, Personalize and Trade: 🍃Personal tradable emissions budgets to pay for individual CO2 consumption as a game changer in climate policy. 🍃 Issued in the same amount to all citizens as an ecological basic income, by means of a complementary carbon resource currency. ➡️ for more information visit our website
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Cut your emissions today for a better tomorrow
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The atmosphere is a shared resource, often overused, leading to the global climate crisis. Many feel powerless in climate protection, akin to neglecting public spaces, reflecting the tragedy of the commons—where shared resources suffer from individual exploitation. But we are not powerless, we can make a difference albeit a small one and we should