Ahead of World Earth Day (22nd April), NGO Myclimate has teamed up with Jung von Matt Havel and the developers from Championship Records to shine a light on the excessive travel influencers are undertaking and the impact this has on the climate.

The new tool, "Myclimate Carbon Tracker" calculates travel emissions based on social media posts to showcase the damaging impact of the jet-setting lifestyle of influencers. Calculating the level of emissions that excessive air travel generates, Myclimate is showcasing the damage such a lifestyle can have as well as publicly calling out the worst celebrity offenders on their owned channels. 

Using the location markers on Instagram that many influencers use to share their trips, the Myclimate tracker has been used to analyse information from over 1000 influencers and celebrities. Based on the distance between two posts with location markers, the tool identifies flights and calculates the resulting emissions. The travel activities of the influencers have been included in the first influencer CO2 ranking at carbontracker.myclimate.org.

"We only use data that the celebrities themselves publish.” says Kai Landwehr, Marketing Manager at Myclimate. “

To amplify this information, once it has calculated a journey the bot generates a personalised comment for the offending influencer, reminding them of alternative travel options and donations for climate projects. For particularly prominent frequent flyers, completely individual comments have been written. So far, Myclimate Carbon Tracker has confronted stars like Paris Hilton, Katy Perry, 50 Cent, Jack Harlow and Beyonce about their travel behaviour. 

“If a champagne photo is tagged in Las Vegas and the next day the location marker shows Lloret de Mar, Spain, the Myclimate Carbon Tracker is triggered. Our 'service' consists of an automated posting on their Instagram profile. They are made aware of their CO2 emissions and directed to our emissions calculator, which suggests a donation for climate protection projects," adds Landwehr.

A campaign film demonstrating the way the tool works shows the personalised comments the bot has created encouraging stars to be more mindful about their travel. Beyond naming and shaming, the campaign aims to offer alternatives to climate damaging travel and offer alternatives. 

"It's about questioning a certain lifestyle that flaunts inflationary air travel, for all of us," says  Arne Stach, Creative Director at Jung von Matt Havel. 

By calling out harmful behaviour, the campaign takes no prisoners to boldly raise awareness and make influencers rethink their lifestyles with people and planet in mind.