The Carbon Lottery is the First Environmental Lottery
David Allardice — June 21, 2011 — Eco
References: thecarbonlottery
The Carbon Lottery is the worlds first green lottery where a £2 ticket buys you a 100kg carbon offset and enters you into a draw to win €4m! Your £2 ticket effectively is invested in a suite of 6 renewable energy projects that help tackle climate change and bring real benefits to the local communities.
It is one of the most innovative carbon-off setting programs in the world and has been set up by investor group and carbon offset experts Sterling Waterford and agency Splinter Media. The Carbon Lottery was created to help carbon offsetting fulfill its potential by providing a simple, rewarding and engaging way of encouraging people to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions. Currently, carbon offsetting is seen as a costly punitive tax, almost a grudge purchase. The Carbon Lottery aims to address this perception through harnessing a culturally accepted mechanism, the lottery, to reward people for offsetting and hopes to radically increase the amount of offsetting done in the UK.
Over half of the ticket price goes to providing the prize pool to pay out the Lottery prizes and the remainder goes into the cost of sourcing, assessing, negotiating and purchasing the best community-based offset credits across the globe which help to tackle climate change. Of course a small allocation is also set aside to run, operate and market the Lottery. The projects range from a wind farm in Turkey to renewable energy community projects in Guatemala and Brazil, and small hydro installations in India. Each ticket offsets 100kg of Carbon Dioxide as well as entering the player into the draw for both the big jackpot prize as well as smaller cash prizes.
The initiative was developed in response to the low take-up of carbon offsetting among businesses and high levels of confusion about the role of offsetting for consumers. Current figures suggest that just 5% of the UK public offsets their emission and less than 0.1 per cent of emissions from the UK's 100 largest firms are voluntarily offset.
It is one of the most innovative carbon-off setting programs in the world and has been set up by investor group and carbon offset experts Sterling Waterford and agency Splinter Media. The Carbon Lottery was created to help carbon offsetting fulfill its potential by providing a simple, rewarding and engaging way of encouraging people to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions. Currently, carbon offsetting is seen as a costly punitive tax, almost a grudge purchase. The Carbon Lottery aims to address this perception through harnessing a culturally accepted mechanism, the lottery, to reward people for offsetting and hopes to radically increase the amount of offsetting done in the UK.
Over half of the ticket price goes to providing the prize pool to pay out the Lottery prizes and the remainder goes into the cost of sourcing, assessing, negotiating and purchasing the best community-based offset credits across the globe which help to tackle climate change. Of course a small allocation is also set aside to run, operate and market the Lottery. The projects range from a wind farm in Turkey to renewable energy community projects in Guatemala and Brazil, and small hydro installations in India. Each ticket offsets 100kg of Carbon Dioxide as well as entering the player into the draw for both the big jackpot prize as well as smaller cash prizes.
The initiative was developed in response to the low take-up of carbon offsetting among businesses and high levels of confusion about the role of offsetting for consumers. Current figures suggest that just 5% of the UK public offsets their emission and less than 0.1 per cent of emissions from the UK's 100 largest firms are voluntarily offset.
Trend Themes
1. Green Lottery - There is a disruptive innovation opportunity in creating environmentally focused lotteries that incentivize carbon offsetting.
2. Rewarding Carbon Offset - The trend of rewarding individuals for carbon offsetting efforts presents an opportunity for businesses to engage consumers in climate change initiatives.
3. Community-based Offset Credits - The utilization of community-based offset credits opens up possibilities for businesses to invest in renewable energy projects and contribute to local communities.
Industry Implications
1. Renewable Energy - The renewable energy industry can leverage the concept of a green lottery to encourage public participation and investment in renewable energy projects.
2. Gaming - The gaming industry has the potential to incorporate environmental goals and incentivize players to offset their carbon emissions.
3. Sustainable Finance - The growth of carbon-offsetting initiatives like the Carbon Lottery creates opportunities for the sustainable finance industry to develop new investment models and products.
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