Sea Level Rise by NASA/UCI

“We declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.” (Oxford Academic, BioScience) The facts are in, the evidence is all around us if we but look. Our carbon emissions are going through the roof, and the impacts are phenomenal.

We have heard hundreds, maybe even thousands of times about 2 degrees of warming and staying under this number of planetary warming. The issue is, that in our heads voice that doesn’t sound so bad or catastrophic.

❝The issue is two degrees sounds small, in reality it's huge.

Two degrees? Doesn't sound like much, in reality it's huge. We are now starting to see the repercussions of climate change - and as it affects as personally more and more, that 'two degrees' becomes more tangible.

These tangible outcomes are truly devastating, including the likes of;
- Increased extreme weather events (that cause large amount of damage for societies) such as wildfires, floods, droughts and hurricanes.
- Mass human migration as weather patterns shift and force changes in food production and water availability which puts strain in other areas causing large social conflict.
- Biodiversity loss and species extinction.
- Coastal flooding and sea-level rise.

The time to act is now, we have the tools and technology at our disposal to make a difference and mitigate catastrophic outcomes.

How did we get to the fee model of Future Neutral?

Working out the exact carbon offset of a product is nigh impossible, let alone taking into account every unique contributing factor of a given transaction.  For example, how far down the rabbit hole of a supply chain do you go to offset even a simple coffee purchase? Down to the farming methods of the coffee farmer?  Do we take into account the jet-stream that helped the beans arrive quicker by plane?  What happens when the cafe changes beans, or decides to do a single origin for a day? How was the given cup washed that time, hand or dishwasher? Do you take into account the energy fluctuations of the day and the shared percentage of power the coffee machine used whilst making your coffee?

The complexities for carbon offset calculation are immense, and too complex to be considered on a micro level for Future Neutral, a practical implementation just wouldn’t be feasible.  Our product stems around amortising considered action over the course of the year. We are starting in the Australian market, our Founder's home country, and also a considerably large emitter relative to population size.  As Climate Analytics notes, at more than 20 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per Australian, the tally remains twice as high as the average of the G20 nations.

❝Many of us can afford to have a $20 t-shirt. Can you afford $20.60?
Small change to make a big difference.

Therefore we have looked at the spending patterns of Australia, and the total retail trading volume and settled on a 3% offset fee.  Many of us can afford to have a $3 coffee. Making it $3.09 is a small ask to make a big difference. To offset over a years worth of carbon per person would require 75% being directly put to the application of buying high quality carbon offsets.  The remaining goes to administering the program with 25% covering Future Neutral administration, software development, hosting, tax and growth.

The scientific consensus is that to avoid the planet experiencing irreversible and catastrophic climate change (i.e. the end of life as we know it), the planet's average global temperature has to be kept below a 2 degree rise from pre-industrial levels. Climate scientists have also calculated that a "safer" increase would be a 1 degree rise from pre-industrial levels. This equates to an atmospheric CO2 limit of 350 parts per million. Currently, our CO2 levels are much higher than that. This means that simply neutralising our annual carbon emissions isn't enough - we actually need to offset more than we're producing if we're going to save the planet. The Future Neutral 3% already takes this into account. Each time you choose Future Neutral, you're one step closer to removing your carbon footprint. With just one fifth of the population choosing Future Neutral on a regular basis, we have the ability to offset the entire population's annual emissions. Talk about small change for a big impact!

❝...investing in more efficient offset initiatives can see lower prices for carbon offset.  Meaning, Future Neutral will go beyond carbon neutrality.

Operating costs

Future Neutral administers the platform, integrates with each retailer, maintains the connections and manages the transactions. The retailers administer their payment systems to accommodate the extra charges and account for each offset transaction. The long-term success of Future Neutral relies on a sustainable return of capital for a stronger foundation and the opportunity to continue investing in carbon reduction projects.