CAP, Personalize and Trade

The basic idea of this climate concept is based on the principle of capping, personalizing, and trading CO₂e emissions. It describes the introduction of a rationed carbon resource currency, "ECO" (Earth Carbon Obligation), as a free ecological basic income for all citizens. This budget is quantified at a multinational level, based on a scientific expert model, and distributed fairly per capita. The total volume is regularly verified and flexibly adjusted.

The parallel currency ECO allows each item to be priced with a separate emissions price tag within a dual pricing system. This makes the ecological footprint of our CO₂e consumption quantitatively visible, as ECO includes all emissions generated along the value chain. This actual amount of CO₂e from fossil fuels (and other greenhouse gases) can now be billed based on the polluter-pays principle. The atmosphere, as an environmental asset, thus acquires a tangible value. This newfound transparency enables informed choices in favor of more climate-friendly products. Furthermore, personal budgets allow for maximum freedom of consumption, albeit within clearly defined ecological limits for everyone.

The finite nature of our ecosystems

The fundamental principle of this emergent emissions management system is the assumption that ecosystems are finite sinks for our greenhouse gas emissions and that every person has an equal right to utilize a fairly rationed, ecologically sustainable volume. The atmosphere is considered common property. The limited capacity of this carbon absorption resource (sink) is represented by a similarly limited carbon resource currency, ECO, which is consistently linked to fossil fuel-based consumption. The damage caused by CO2e emissions is currently hardly factored into prices. Climate protection therefore also means that all consumption must be

valued according to the polluter-pays principle, based on its actual resource cost. However, conventional currency systems like the euro, dollar, yen, etc., are unsuitable for this, as the money supply of established currencies can be expanded as needed.

Comprehensive change in our consumer behavior

The additional currency ECO represents a commitment, through appropriate regulations (quotas), to extract and ultimately burn only as much carbon in the form of fossil primary energy sources (coal, oil, and gas) as is necessary to curb global warming. The price of this

complementary currency depends, according to the polluter-pays principle, on the intensity of fossil resource consumption associated with the production of goods or the provision of services, and the associated emissions. The advantage of a climate trading system broken down to the smallest unit in the market - the end consumer - lies in its extremely rapid steering potential. This is because the altered purchasing behavior of the vast majority of customers will make industrial production processes more environmentally friendly.

The concept also provides answers to questions regarding necessary government control, as well as the import and export of goods and fossil fuels with third countries that are not yet integrated into the ECO resource currency system. Furthermore, it demonstrates why it is conceptually superior to CO2 pricing and the current EU emissions trading system.

The ECO cycle

From the extraction of fossil primary energy sources to the finished product on the shelf.

The ECO, as a CO2e-currency, reflects our ecological footprint. With it, we pay for the actual amount of fossil fuels - coal, oil, and gas - required by a product or service. It encompasses all stages: from raw material extraction and manufacturing, through transport and marketing, to the consumer.

The limits of renunciation

In Germany, the average CO2 consumption per person/year is around 9.7 tons. In order to meet the climate targets, we need to get below 2 tons. This corresponds to a reduction of about 80%. It is obvious that this can't be mastered with restriction and renunciation.

However, the current price increase measures of politics mainly rely on renunciation - but with renunciation we do not create realistic options for action so that we consumers can consume in a climate-friendly way. This will only work if the manufacturing processes of our consumption generally become greener and more climate-friendly.

The idea: An ecological basic income

Every citizen receives a specific, equal, and environmentally sustainable allowance of personal emissions, made available for their consumption in the form of an ECO Budget. The size of this tradable budget is determined by a committee for a specific period, based on current scientific simulations and recommendations. The ecological basic income thus brings about a change in our consumption behavior, as we strive to conserve this limited personal budget.

Socio-ecological transformation of our economy and society

The system-immanent link between business and politics thwarts its actual mandate to act sensibly and with foresight for the benefit of all people. A vicious circle arises from the intertwining of different conflicting goals between ecological awareness and economic constraints, the diffusion of responsibility and the dichotomy between self-interest and morality. That is why it is so important to decouple the solution of the problem from all these different, sometimes short-term particular interests and to establish a system that, according to the polluter pays principle, takes into account the smallest unit on the market, namely the consumer with his enormous steering effect. A system that places the power and responsibility for climate protection completely in the hands of all citizens and in which market-based laws function in harmony with ecological sustainability.

(Reading time for the detailed climate concept is about 25-30 minutes).

in detail