Your Climate Promise Counts
On Monday, June 19, more than 1,000 cyclists will ride the Climate Classic to call attention to the effects of climate change. But attention is not enough. That's why participants make a Climate Promise during their registration.
Support the participants of the Climate Classic with your own Climate Promise!
Together we make a difference
The Climate Classic goes along the coastline created in the Netherlands when the sea level rises too far. Specifically, it involves cycling 375 km in one day, from Breda to Groningen (125 or 250 km also possible).
With the Climate Classic, in addition to drawing attention to the climate, we also want to make an actual impact. You can contribute to this by taking a Climate Promise Climate Pledge and/or investing in the planet by offsetting your offsetting your CO2 emissions.
What will you do to reduce your CO2 emissions? Eat no meat for a month, help yourself or your neighborhood get solar panels, join an energy cooperative or put pressure on the fossil industry through Follow This?
Your Climate Pledge Counts. Together we take action for the climate!
How does it work?
1) Determine your footprint
Get insight into your carbon footprint. How many earths are needed for your lifestyle? Take the test on the Hidden Impact.
2) Make your Climate Promise
To reduce your footprint, choose a challenging and appropriate climate pledge. We have examples of climate actions
3) Compensate
Optional: Invest in the planet by offsetting your carbon emissions through one of three selected charities.
- Step 1 - Determine your footprint
It starts with understanding your own footprint. Therefore, check out the website of My Hidden Impact. Ideal for understanding your current footprint.
More importantly, you'll also find out right away what's the best thing to do if you want to get started on sustainability effectively.
Nice inspiration for your Climate Promise!
- Step 2 - Make your Climate Promise
With your Climate Promise you reduce your carbon footprint. Not sure yet which climate action you want to use to reduce your footprint? Take a look at the list below for inspiration.
- Take the bike and leave that car
- Finally buy that radiator film for behind your heater
- File objection to your fossil fuel contribution with the Internal Revenue Service
- Join your local energy cooperative
- Shower for a month for no more than 2 minutes at a time (or even smarter purchase a water-saving shower head )
- Join the Veggie Challenge and eat vegetarian or plant-based for a month
- Buy a share in Shell through Follow This
- Insulate your attic
- Next vacation, take the bike or train instead of the car or plane
- Join a (green) political party
- Cook for a week with only seasonal local vegetables
- Identify what could be more climate-friendly in your work (and make it happen)
- Don't buy new stuff for a month, and if you buy only secondhand
- Join Extinction Rebellion's protest against fossil subsidies
- Share an article about climate on your social media every week
- Organize an energy master class at a high school
- Engage in the climate conversation with 5 people around you
- Donate to an organization fighting climate change
Do you have enough ideas like this for reducing your own footprint? Then make your climate pledge.
- Step 3 - Offset your own emissions
In addition to making a Climate Promise, we aim for at least 50% of participants to offset their own CO2 emissions. An investment with a healthier planet as its return!
We have selected three impactful projects. You choose the number of tons you want to offset and your project. You pay Cycling 4 Climate and two weeks after the Climate Classic we will announce the final score and transfer the money to the respective projects.
FairClimateFund
Prevent CO2 emissions by letting locals cook clean in India
€19 per ton of CO2
FairClimateFund, a social enterprise, has been demonstrating since 2009 that the carbon market can fairly and effectively benefit those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
This biogas project gives households in rural India access to a 100% sustainable and clean way of cooking. Cooking on biogas is better for health, climate and environment and saves households time and money.
Learn more about biogas in India
Trees for All
Plant trees in Bolivia & provide additional biodiversity. It takes 30 years to offset your emissions.
€18.50 per ton of CO2
As a recognized charity, Trees for All has been committed to a forested world for nearly 25 years. Trees for All plants trees in the Netherlands and abroad, for a better climate, more biodiversity and healthy living conditions.
In this project, trees are planted in the Arbolivia project in Bolivia. Trees for All has been planting native tree species here since 2008. The project helps farmers to use their land in a sustainable and climate-friendly way. Over the lifespan of 30 years, CO2 is sequestered. More than 1,100 farmers have now joined the project.
Sinkit
Remove CO2 emissions from the atmosphere and sequester them for good
€135 per ton of CO2
Sinkit is a cooperative that develops Carbon Removal projects. One route is pyrolysis of excess biomass. The biochar produced in this process has soil-improving properties, and once back in the earth, the carbon is retained for at least 100 years.
The project in India was implemented by Dutch Carboneers. It prevents burning of rice bamboo, increases farmers' income and improves soil quality. So in addition to Carbon Removal another 3x profit!
Making Your Climate Promise & Offsetting
The Climate pledges & offsets made
Some of the Climate pledges made by supporters
| Name | Commitment | Tons of CO2 Offset |
|---|---|---|
| Justin - Schuttelaar & Partners | Biking to work more often | |
| Louis | I minimize my meat consumption, and fly once a year. I raise my children with the utmost respect for the earth and our ecosystem. | 1.0 |
| Nelleke | When I need new clothes, I look for vintage options first (except underwear, swimwear and athletic shoes). When I go shopping, I bring my own bag and I try to use as little disposable packaging as possible. | |
| Frederique | Max 1 flight per year | 2.0 |
| Hannah | Renovate house to energy label A (heat pump, insulation HR++) | 2.0 |
| Susanne | Less flying | 1.0 |
| Irene | Less frequent bathing | |
| Jorrit Kuipers | That I reduce my fish and meat consumption | |
| Bente | Making the boat sustainable | 1.0 |
| An Paridaen | Driving less, going on bike vacations more often. We are buying a hybrid heat pump to make our house even more climate proof (less gas consumption). We will have an insulation curtain made to hang in front of the front door. | 1.0 |
| Pieter | Buying less stuff | 1.0 |
| Ron | Drive homeowner to improve insulation value | 13.3 |
| Juliette | CO2 offsets when flying and showering less | 3.0 |
| Marcel | Buying less stuff and less car and flying | 7.2 |
| Mado | More often a fossil-free week (regarding transportation), no more flying anyway. Of course smart and economical with water. | 2.0 |
| Joost A | House: solar panels, heat pump and extra insulation, tiles out of the garden, rain barrel for watering, less stuff and recycle if possible. | |
| Jeske - Trees for all | With all stuff think, "Do I really need it?" | 5.6 |
| Martijn | Sustainable home remodeling | |
| DD | Installing solar cells, less car use, more bee-friendly plants | |
| Brabant Delta Water Board | Taking bikes more instead of cars | |
| Jack | even more by bicycle (already more than 5,000 a year) and not flying | |
| Geert Wavin | bike to work every day , eat no meat , shower less long , exchange stuff in the family , bike to the store | |
| Anonymous | No more using cotton pads | |
| Claudy | In case of buying stuff: buy as little as possible, and otherwise borrow or second-hand | 1.0 |
| Anonymous | Taking shorter showers every day (max 5 minutes) and eating vegetarian food for a month | 2.0 |
| Karin Sant | 3 action points: no more than 1x a week by car to work. 50% of my clothes 2nd hand or of sustainable origin. Invest even more in reforestation. | 4.3 |
| Johan - Unive | make home more sustainable, fly less, eat less meat, buy less clothes | |
| Michiel | As a family, abandoning the car more often and biking to work | |
| Tensing | Biking to work more than riding the bus. | |
| Kathelijn | I join Follow This in buying Green Shares to make my voice heard. | 1.0 |
| Anonymous | Buying less stuff (and especially electronics) | |
| Cycling 4 Climate | More on the bike | 0.0 |
| Antonella | Reuse more/2nd hand stuff and buy only when it is really needed. | |
| Mo | Eating more consciously and making the home more sustainable | |
| Stievvv | With people pushing a zero-emission car | |
| William | I will fly less often (and certainly not to faraway destinations) | |
| BAM | Exhibit more conscious behavior. Using the car less often. Carpool when possible. bike to work with road bike | |
| luuk | Buying less new stuff (and especially electronics) | |
| Yvonne | Leaving the car parked even more often, not watering my garden. | 1.0 |
| Henne | Ha, of course I'm participating in the Climate Classic water board relay race. And my climate pledge is: 9 out of 10 times to work by bike. That amounts to 6025 (almost)CO2-neutral kilometers this year. Who will follow? | |
| Nick | trade in diesel car for electric car | |
| René | At least 50% by bike to work, no flying vacations and less than 15,000 km year by car | |
| Elisabeth | Six months of not buying new clothes possibly only secondhand | |
| Niels Mureau | Not by car, but by bike or by public transport | |
| Bertus | Biking more instead of going by car | |
| Hans | Eating less meat, If it's dry always bike to work and no more flying | |
| Pim | being vegetarian, making new turns only when necessary and taking the train as much as possible instead of car and plane. | |
| Robin | fly less and take the car more often | |
| . | ich gelobe Besserung | |
| Anonymous | Making more conscious environmental choices with food again | |
| Jan Wetterskip Fryslan | no air travel this year; leave the car 2 days a week | |
| Susanne C4C | I don't buy a bunch of flowers anymore. | 1.3 |
| Cas - W+B | reduce footprint by using less animal products and getting stuff repaired (locally) more often | |
| Dave | Eat less meat, drive electric in future | |
| shef | eating less meat, less bathing | |
| Iris | Choosing used clothing and stuff more often instead of new | |
| Johannes Wetterskip | I will commute by bike more often | |
| Michiel | No more flying within Europe and outside Europe max 1x per 5 years and max 1x per month non-vegetarian food | 3.0 |
| Aaldert -cycling 4 climate | I will also drive electric car privately | |
| Pascal | Practice sustainability, vega 2x a week, buy less | 4.0 |
| Marieke | No new clothes and no beef and lamb, eat less cheese and (dark) chocolate | |
| Len | further insulate house, eat less meat, bike vacation, reduce car mileage | |
| Sjors WSBD | Making my home more sustainable and choosing to work from home more consciously. | |
| Frank - KNMI | I am going to live smaller | 9.0 |
| Anonymous | Not having children | |
| Steffi | Nearby vacations - cycling vacations without luggage transport | |
| Walk to Yourself | Insulating our house better; HR++ glass and purchasing a heat pump | 1.0 |
