Sign in to view
member only content

We’ve seen the lottery mechanic employed in a number of different ways, but Carbon Lottery is the first one we’ve come across that helps combat climate change. Set up by Sterling Waterford and Splinter Media, the Malta-based lottery not only offers a EUR 4 million cash jackpot, but also functions as a new way of incentivising businesses and members of the public to offset their carbon footprint. For every GBP 2 ticket bought in the lottery, over half of the money goes towards a prize pool. The rest goes towards sourcing and purchasing community-based offset credits from around the world. These credits are put towards specially selected projects, such as the Zorlu wind farm in Turkey (pictured right), and the Cauvery Hydro Energy project in India. According to the Carbon Lottery website, each ticket bought offsets 100 kg of Carbon Dioxide. Participants can purchase as many tickets as they like, and there is even a tool on the website which enables players to see how much Carbon Dixoide their household is likely to emit per annum, and purchase enough tickets to match that amount. Whilst some businesses ban their employees from forming lottery syndicates, Carbon Lottery actively encourages businesses to get involved to offset their footprint. According to a recent survey by Carbon Retirement, only 0.1 per cent of emissions from the United Kingdom’s largest firms are offset voluntarily, leading Gregor Paterson Jones, co-founder of Carbon Lottery, to comment, ” Tackling climate change needs both innovation and a cultural change, and that’s what the Carbon Lottery is all about.” Trying to get businesses and individuals to take action against climate change can often be a challenge, but by offering a cash incentive Carbon Lottery may have hit upon a winning formula. Just as we saw with the Ten in Three project, a little fresh thinking can go along way to inspire the public into doing good.