Craig Cohon: Businessman walks over 2,600 miles from London to Istanbul to advertise carbon seize

A businessman-turned-activist has walked greater than 2,600 miles by means of 14 international locations as a part of his local weather marketing campaign to advertise carbon seize.

Craig Cohon trekked over 153 days after beginning in London’s Trafalgar Square in early January, and crossed the end line on the Galata Bridge within the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul on Monday, which can also be World Environment Day and his sixtieth birthday.

He handed by means of 82 cities and cities on his journey, together with in France, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Hungary, as a part of his efforts to take away his lifetime carbon footprint.

He described his 2,640-mile (4,250km) stroll as a metaphor for the “action and consistency” wanted to sort out local weather change because the world is “addicted to fossil fuels”.

The businessman, who beforehand had a ‘decadent’ way of life, has targeted on carbon removing and “reversing his lifetime carbon footprint going back to 1963”.

His private footprint was equal to eight,147 tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) over his lifetime to this point – an quantity 28 instances the worldwide common.

And he urged different individuals to “make a difference” and “make the change”.

Mr Cohon, who walked 15-22 miles a day (25km-35km) throughout his problem, stated: “We don’t have to wait for corporations, we don’t have to wait for politicians, we can make the change.

“Not everybody has to stroll 153 days and give attention to carbon removing and take away their lifetime carbon footprint like I did, however do what you are able to do and it’ll make a distinction.”

He recalled making his method throughout a bridge in Holland the place there have been “thousands of diesel trucks”, and in addition strolling down a canal between Hanover and Berlin the place there have been barges transporting coal.

“It continued and it continued – these little moments that show how ingrained we are in the system that we’re trying to change,” he stated.

Two years in the past, the Canadian, who is predicated in London, began making an attempt to make up for his footprint.

He donated $1m (£800,000) of his pension fund to carbon removing initiatives – which take out carbon dioxide from the ambiance.

His Walk It Back marketing campaign promotes such initiatives and he now calls himself “an accidental ultra-endurance athlete”.

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While Mr Cohon’s stroll negated the usage of air journey, he now plans to fly from Istanbul to Chicago to see his daughter.

He stated: “Am I a hypocrite? 100%. I have not managed to have a net zero life… but as long as I start closing that gap to get to net zero.

“When I fly, I’ll take away my carbon and I’ll be sure that I pay for sustainable gas.”