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Last month, we sailed past a total of 140,000 learners certified as Carbon Literate. A milestone in and of itself for us at The Carbon Literacy Project, but more so for what it represents for our community and their impact across all sectors of society.

Together, those certified individuals – spanning across communities, schools, universities, the public sector, and private businesses worldwide – have committed to at least 280,000 actions to reduce carbon emissions. These actions must be significant and must be taken within the context in which the training took place (for example, workplace actions for workplace training) for maximum relevance and impact, as significant carbon reduction will only be realised through bold, meaningful climate actions

Those 280,000 actions, in turn, have officially saved over half a million tonnes of CO2e! This figure is not just an abstract statistic*. It represents massive progress towards decarbonising society and securing a liveable future for all.

Let’s put the figure into perspective…

What does half a million tonnes of CO2e look like?

Try and imagine 250 million fire extinguishers, and you’re getting close to the equivalent volume of greenhouse gases saved from being released into the atmosphere and heating up our planet.

Struggling to picture that? 250 million fire extinguishers would fill roughly 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That’s a lot of gas!

What does half a million tonnes of CO2e equate to?

It’s equivalent to:

• The annual carbon footprint of 39,370 UK residents.
• Driving 905 million miles in the average car (that’s 36,000 trips around the world).
• Eating 39.4 million beef steaks (that’s around 41,000 cows).

What does it mean to ‘save’ half a million tonnes of CO2e?

It is the equivalent of:

• Taking around 109,000 cars off the road for a year.
• Avoiding 500,000 return flights from London to New York.
• Powering 185,000 homes for a year.

It would take 20 million trees growing for a year to absorb the same amount of CO2e.

These are hugely significant numbers. And they’re likely to be an underestimation, due to the conservative way we calculate our carbon saved figure*. And not least because of all the additional actions Carbon Literate people go on to take beyond the two they are required to pledge as part of their Carbon Literacy training.

These figures are not just a drop in the ocean. They represent a wave of change that is gathering speed as more and more certified people make low-carbon decisions part and parcel of their everyday lives. At the current rate of growth, we’re on track to reach 1 million certified learners by 2030. Just imagine what the minimum 3.6 million CO2e saving from their collective actions would represent. But climate change is a vast ocean, and the political tides trying to thwart climate action are strong. Together, we must keep this wave of low-carbon culture change surging forward.

• If you are already Carbon Literate, keep on with your actions and think about how you can build upon them. A massive thank you and congratulations for your part in this collective achievement.
• If you are not yet Carbon Literate but are ready to join the movement, get in touch to find out how you can make the biggest difference with Carbon Literacy [email protected].
• If you would like to look for ways to show your support for The Carbon Literacy Project beyond engaging with Carbon Literacy training, please take a look at how you can Support Us.

*Our most up-to-date monthly infographic can always be found on our About Us page, alongside information on each metric and descriptions of how we calculate these.