The climate crisis is so vast and serious that individual actions can seem pointless: for example, can switching to LED lighting at home or pumping up your car tyres really help save polar bears?

One of the most popular tools helping individuals estimate their contribution to mitigating climate change is the carbon footprint calculator. There are hundreds of such calculators available online, allowing you to input various data, such as what type of transport you use to get to work, how often you consume red meat, and whether you wash your clothes in cold water.

Critical climate activists argue that focusing on one's carbon footprint is, at best, time-consuming and, at worst, pointless. Instead, a distinct alternative has emerged: the climate shadow.

The concept of the climate shadow was coined by Portland, Oregon-based writer Emma Pattee (Emma Pattee); the goal of the concept is to provide an overview of the totality of one’s choices and their impact on the planet.

What is a climate shadow?

In a 2021 article, E. Pattee detailed her concept for evaluating an individual's impact on the climate: "[Your climate shadow is] a dark figure that stretches out behind you. Everywhere you go, it follows, tallying not just your air conditioning use and the petrol consumption of your car, but also how you vote in elections, how many children you choose to have, where you work, how you invest your money, how much you talk about climate change, and whether your words reinforce urgency, apathy, or denial."

The larger the shadow, the greater the individual's influence for the good of the planet.

For example, while installing solar panels on your roof can reduce your carbon footprint, your climate shadow will grow if you talk to your neighbours about your choice. The social influence generated by simply installing solar panels (as a process) would affect the size of your shadow. Studies show that people who have solar panels encourage those living nearby (neighbours) to install their own.

In short, rather than incentivising only individual action, your climate shadow grows if that action—consciously or otherwise—inspires others.

The problem with the carbon footprint

Carbon footprint calculators essentially highlight individual actions while ignoring the influence of large industrial sectors or the role of governments in regulating them. For instance, critics of carbon footprint calculators claim they have been used by oil companies to deflect blame and shift attention away from corporations onto ordinary consumers.

"The carbon footprint is a quantitative measure of justice," explains Katharine Hayhoe (Katharine Hayhoe), a scientist at The Nature Conservancy and a professor at Texas Tech University. "People use it to feel good, which is what we all want when we feel scared, anxious, or worried. But then it gets turned into a yardstick to judge and assess others."

One of the most problematic aspects regarding carbon footprint calculations is the fact that for many people, carbon footprints can be larger. (...)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-shadow-carbon-footprint