Every Briton should plant 650 trees to offset their yearly CO2 emissions, estimated at 8 tonnes.
MADRID, July 29, 2022 – Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main cause of climate change, evidenced these days in record high temperatures, forest fires and persistent drought across Europe. Reducing these emissions is imperative to stop this progress, and this is what the UN’s Net Zero strategy pursues. According to estimates by Tribaldata, each UK citizen emits, on average, 8 tonnes of CO2e per year, so the commitment to reducing carbon footprint should not only come from governments and companies, but also from citizens, where each should plant 650 trees to fully offset their environmental impact.
This company, created in 2019 by two Swedes, developed an App called Tribaldata, that offers Climate Coaching, where individuals can measure their personal carbon footprint and become aware of their individual responsibility towards the planet, receive recommendations to minimize their footprint and plant trees to offset and neutralize their impact.
Measuring your carbon footprint, learning to reduce and neutralizing it
The App incorporates a carbon footprint calculator based on public data sources such as Eurostat and Our World in Data, among others. Depending on the country in which the user lives, home size, means of transportation, followed diet, recycling habits or the intensiveness in usage of electronic devices, the user obtains an estimate of their carbon footprint, measured in tonnes of CO2e as a result.
Based on this analysis, the user can answer a series of questionnaires related to their habits and lifestyle by categories (mobility, food, technology, energy consumption, etc.), so that they can raise their awareness of the effect that their individual day-to-day decisions have on their climate footprint. Based on the answers, users receive a series of tips and recommendations that would result in a reduction of their carbon footprint.
As a reward for their commitment, users get points that can be converted into trees planted. By completing all the questionnaires, users get points to plant 1 tree per week. Tribaldata maintains an agreement with Eden Reforestation, one of the world´s most recognized organizations in reforestation, and the tree species they work with is the mangrove. It is estimated that each one absorbs an average of 12.3 kg of CO2 per year and their life expectancy is 25 years, so once planted, their effects would extend throughout that period.
Currently, reforestation action through the App is concentrated on Madagascar, where in addition to its benefits for climate change, workdays are provided to the local economy.
In two years, the Tribaldata App, available for iOS and Android, has grown a community of more than 12,000 users who have made it possible to plant more than 87,000 mangroves, with an absorption capacity of more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Crowdfunding open on CrowdCube
The company has just opened a crowdfunding round through the CrowdCube platform so that smaller investors attracted by his project can participate, investing from less than 10 pounds.
Since its inception, the project has received an investment of approximately 840 Thousand pounds to develop the app, community of users, including funds provided by the founders, investments from business angels linked to the Singularity University of Silicon Valley.