What does "carbon footprint" mean?

A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization or state in a given time.

Carbon footprint

Q: What is a synonym for "carbon footprint"?

Common synonyms include: carbon emissions, emissions burden, emissions load, emissions total, energy footprint, lifecycle emissions.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization or state in a given time.
"House insulation is another way of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, as well as double glazing and draught-proofing."

Synonyms

All synonyms

carbon emissions emissions burden emissions load emissions total energy footprint lifecycle emissions

Antonyms

All antonyms

no emissions zero emissions

Example

More examples

"House insulation is another way of reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint, as well as double glazing and draught-proofing."

Etymology

Coined in a 1999 BBC Vegetarian Good Food article and after the 1990s term ecological footprint and popularized by a 2005 advertising campaign for fossil-fuel company BP in order to shift blame for climate change onto individual consumers. Modelled after the ecological footprint concept developed in the 1990s.

Next best steps

Browse writing guides Explore topic clusters