CarbonKit: a technological platform and stakeholder coalition for personal carbon tracking

Ubiquitous technology platforms have been created to track and improve health and fitness; similar technologies can help individuals monitor and reduce their carbon footprints. This paper proposes CarbonKit – a platform combining technology, markets, and incentives to empower and reward people for reducing their carbon footprint. We argue that a goal-and-reward behavioral feedback loop can be combined with the Big Data available from tracked activities, apps, and social media to make CarbonKit an integral part of individuals’ daily lives. CarbonKit comprises five modules that link personal carbon tracking, health & fitness, social media, and economic incentives. Protocols for safeguarding security, privacy and individuals’ control over their own data are essential to the design of the CarbonKit. Initially CarbonKit would operate on a voluntary basis, but such a system can also serve as part of a mandatory region-wide initiative. We use the example of the British Columbia to illustrate the regulatory framework and participating stakeholders that would be required to support the CarbonKit in specific jurisdictions.