Lyft announced that it will immediately offset the carbon emissions from all rides globally. This is an ongoing commitment, meaning that any Lyft ride from now on will be carbon neutral. Starting today, your decision to ride with Lyft will support the fight against climate change.
This is a multi-million dollar investment in the first year alone, which makes Lyft one of the top voluntary purchasers of carbon offsets in the world. In year one, we anticipate offsetting over a million metric tons of carbon, equivalent to planting tens of millions of trees or taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road. Lyft’s investment and impact will continue to grow as the company does.
Lyft rides are now carbon-neutral through the direct funding of emission mitigation efforts, including the reduction of emissions in the automotive manufacturing process, renewable energy programs, forestry projects, and the capture of emissions from landfills. Lyft’s partner 3Degrees oversees the independent verification of all projects according to rigorous third-party standards, as well as ensures that we are only supporting emission reductions that are new and would not have happened but for Lyft’s investment (known as additionality). The majority of these projects will be in close proximity to our largest markets, and all projects will be US-based.
Transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. As a growing part of the transportation ecosystem, Lyft claims it is holding itself accountable to being part of the solution.
“We in the unique and fortunate position to be a driving force in bringing forward a more sustainable future, and we don’t take that lightly,” wrote John Zimmer in a Medium blog post.
“This action is not the full solution, but a real step forward. By committing significant financial resources to these offsets, we’re building into our business a strong incentive to pursue shared rides and the displacement of gasoline-powered vehicles. The more shared rides and clean vehicles on the platform, the fewer carbon offsets we will need to purchase.”
Lyft’s mission is to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation. The company is constantly working to increase our positive impact on the world.