Mountain climbing is not usually considered to be a polluting activity, at least not when compared to auto racing. There is, however, a significant carbon footprint left by climbers who train for the ultimate summit on Earth: Mount Everest. Climber Giovanni Rodriguez from Costa Rica aims to make a difference among the mountaineering community by making the first carbon-neutral Everest summit in 2018.

Activities such as surfing and mountaineering have inherent nature conservation philosophies. The activities by themselves do not generate a large carbon footprint; it is their dedicated lifestyles, however, which require considerable use of natural resources and produces significant emissions. As climber Giovanni Rodriguez explains on his website:

Our planet is facing a considerable challenge in terms of global warming. Preparing to summit Mount Everest requires extensive travel across the Americas, Europe and Asia. This travel involves air and ground transportation typically powered by fossil fuels that generate air and atmospheric pollution.

The Case for a Carbon-Neutral Everest Summit

It is not feasible for Mr. Rodriguez to sail and walk to the mountains he aims to climb in preparation for his future Everest expedition. He could try to find the least polluting transportation firms for this purpose; for example, Nature Air is Costa Rica’s first carbon-neutral airline, but there aren’t too many airlines or ground transportation outfits that can make such a claim.

Nature Air still pollutes the air each time one of its planes takes off. The airline, however, offsets its carbon footprint by paying for carbon credit certificates that finance reforestation efforts in Costa Rica; this in turn makes our country greener and prettier, and it also provides more trees that absorb carbon dioxide emissions. This is a basic mechanism of the carbon-neutrality status that Costa Rica hopes to achieve by 2021.

Mr. Rodriguez hopes to achieve a carbon-neutral Everest summit in a way that is similar to Nature Air’s model. First, he will calculate how much of a carbon footprint he will leave; second, he will find less polluting options; finally he will reach into his own pockets and purchase carbon credit certificates to offset the emissions caused by his trips.

In essence, Mr. Rodriguez hopes that his carbon emissions calculations, his efforts to apply a green philosophy to all aspects of his preparation and expedition, plus his payment for carbon credits will offset his carbon footprint and make history by being the first climber to summit Everest in a carbon-neutral fashion. This will in turn send a message to mountaineers, adventurers and athletes all over the world that their beloved sporting activities also leave a carbon footprint, which must be offset as much as possible for the benefit of the planet.

Aside from climbing Mount Chirripo and reaching many other peaks in Costa Rica 63 times, Mr. Rodriguez has also made summits at Illimani, Sajama and Chimborazo in the Andes. He is a graduate of the University of Costa Rica and the prestigious INCAE Business School, where he learned and researched matters related to environmental conservation and sustainability.

The first Everest summit by a Costa Rican climber was achieved by Warner Rojas in 2012.