Residents of Lahti, a small Finnish town an hour's train ride north of the capital Helsinki, can now earn "virtual euros" if they ditch their cars for more sustainable transport modes and lower their carbon emissions.

The CitiCap app enables users to track their CO2 emissions as they move around. It detects whether they're traveling by car, using public transport, cycling or walking, and calculates their carbon footprint.

Every user is allocated a weekly carbon allowance and can earn rewards when their emissions are lower than their carbon "budget." These virtual euros can be used for a free coffee or a slice of cake, free bike lights or bus tickets.

Out of 120,000 inhabitants, 2,000 residents of Lahti have downloaded the app so far. The average resident of Lahti emits 21 kilograms of CO2 equivalent a week, according to Ville Uusitalo, the project's head of research. Users of the CitiCap get rewards when they reduce this by a quarter, replacing at least 20 kilometers of car driving with more sustainable travel options.

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The Finnish town is to be named the European Green Capital next year, but according to the people behind CitiCap, there's still space for improvement.

"Lahti is still a very car-dependent city and our goal is that by 2030 more than 50 percent of all trips are made by sustainable transport modes," Anna Huttunen, the project manager of CitiCap, told AFP. At the moment, this figure stands at 44 percent.

The app, which encourages green behavior, is modeled on the EU's Emission Trading System, under which companies receive or buy emission allowances, which they can trade with one another, within a predefined limit on emissions.

Researchers are still estimating the real impact of the app, as they evaluate the role lockdowns have played in sharply decreasing CO2 emissions and car journeys. They are also considering whether bigger rewards would encourage more environmentally virtuous behavior.

For the future, the experts behind the app hope the project will extend to tracking our food consumption and other kinds of polluting activities. "Mobility is only one part of our carbon footprint," said Uusitalo. "There are many options for how you can put personal carbon trading into action."

Source(s): AFP

Video editing: Natalia Luz.