If you have logged onto Google Flights recently, you might have noticed a small change in the page’s layout. Alongside the usual sortable categories, like price, duration, and departure time, there is a new field: CO2 emissions.
Launched in October 2021, the column gives would-be travellers an estimate of how much carbon dioxide they will be responsible for emitting.
"When you're choosing among flights of similar cost or timing, you can also factor carbon emissions into your decision," wrote Google's Vice President of Travel Products, Richard Holden.
Google is part of a wave of digital companies, including Amazon, and Ant Group, encouraging consumers to make more sustainable choices by offering eco-friendly filter options, outlining the environmental impact of products, and leveraging engagement strategies used in video games.
Experts say these digital nudges can help increase awareness about environmental threats and the uptake of solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Our consumption practices are putting tremendous pressure on the planet, driving climate change, stoking pollution and pushing species towards extinction," says David Jensen, Digital Transformation Coordinator with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
"We need to make better decisions about the things we buy and trips we take,” he added. “These green digital nudges help consumers make better decisions as well as collectively drive businesses to adopt sustainable practices through consumer pressure."
Global reach
At least 1.5 billion people consume products and services through e-commerce platforms, and global e-commerce sales reached US$26.7 trillion in 2019, according to a recent UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.
Meanwhile, 4.5 billion people are on social media and 2.5 billion play online games. These tallies mean digital platforms could influence green behaviors at a planetary scale, says Jensen.
One example is UNEP-led Playing for the Planet Alliance, which places green activations in games. UNEP’s Little Book of Green Nudges has also led to more than 130 universities piloting 40 different nudges to shift behaviour.
A 2020 study by Globescan involving many of the world's largest retailers found that seven out of 10 consumers want to become more sustainable. However, only three out of 10 have been able to change their lifestyles.
E-commerce providers can help close this gap.
"The algorithms and filters that underpin e-commerce platforms must begin to nudge sustainable and net-zero products and services by default," said Jensen. "Sustainable consumption should be a core part of the shopping experience empowering people to make choices that align with their values."
Embedding sustainability in tech
Many groups are trying to leverage this opportunity to make the world a more sustainable place.
The Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA), launched by Ant Group and UNEP, aims to enhance financing for sustainable development through digital platforms and fintech applications. It launched the Every Action Counts Coalition, a global network of digital, financial, retail investment, e-commerce and consumer goods companies. The coalition aims to help 1 billion people make greener choices and take action for the planet by 2025 through online tools and platforms.
"We will bring like-minded members together to experiment with new innovative business models that empower everyone to become a green digital champion," says Marianne Haahr, GDFA Executive Director.
In one example, GDFA member Mastercard, in collaboration with the fintech company Doconomy, provides shoppers with a personalized carbon footprint tracker to inform their spending decisions.
In the UK, Mastercard is partnering with HELPFUL to offer incentives for purchasing products from a list of over 150 sustainable brands.
Mobile apps like Ant Forest, by Ant Group, are also using a combination of incentives and digital engagement models to urge 600 million people make sustainable choices. Users are rewarded for low-carbon decisions through green energy points they can use to plant real trees. So far, the Ant Forest app has resulted in 122 million trees being planted, reducing carbon emissions by over 6 million tons.
Three e-commerce titans are also aiming to support greener lifestyles. Amazon has adopted the Climate Pledge Friendly initiative to help at least 100 million people find climate-friendly products that carry at least one of 32 different environmental certifications.
SAP's Ariba platform is the largest digital business-to-business network on the planet. It has also embraced the idea of "procuring with purpose," offering a detailed look at corporate supply chains so potential partners can assess the social, economic and environmental impact of transactions.
"Digital transformation is an opportunity to rethink how our business models can contribute to sustainability and how we can achieve full environmental transparency and accountability across our entire value chain,” said SAP's Chief Sustainability Officer Daniel Schmid.
UNEP's Jensen says a crucial next step would be for mobile phone operating systems to adopt standards that would allow apps to share environment and carbon footprint information.
"This would enable people to seamlessly calculate their footprints across all applications to develop insights and change behaviours," Jensen said. "Everyone needs access to an individual' environmental dashboard' to truly understand their impact and options for more sustainable living."
Green digital nudges help consumers make better decisions as well as collectively drive businesses to adopt sustainable practices through consumer pressure.
Need for common standards
As platforms begin to encode sustainability into their algorithms and product recommendations, common standards are needed to ensure reliability and public trust, say experts.
Indeed, many online retailers are claiming to do more for the environment than they actually are. A January analysis by the European Commission and European national consumer authorities found that in 42 per cent, sustainability claims were exaggerated or false.
To help change that, UNEP serves as the secretariat of the One Planet network, a global community of practitioners, policymakers and experts that encourages sustainable consumption and production.
In November, the One Planet network issued guidance material for e-commerce platforms that outlines how to better inform consumers and enable more sustainable consumption, based on 10 principles from UNEP and the International Trade Centre.
The European Union is also pioneering core standards for digital sustainability through digital product passports that contain relevant information on a product's origin, composition, environmental and carbon performance.
"Digital product passports will be an essential tool to strengthen consumer protection and increase the level of trust and rigour to environmental performance claims," says Jensen. "They are the next frontier on the pathway to planetary sustainability in the digital age."
UNEP's Digital Transformation sub-programme focuses on accelerating and scaling environmental sustainability by applying data, digital technologies and solutions in UNEP's key activities, products and services. It focuses on supporting climate action, nature protection and pollution prevention through the use of digital technologies and applications. For more information contact David Jensen, Digital Transformation Coordinator.
