All Future Rides to Be Carbon Neutral, Lyft Says

In its continuing effort combat climate change, Lyft announced today that all rides from now on will be carbon neutral, due to a multi-million dollar investment in carbon offset programs around the world.

Through directly funding emission mitigating efforts, such as renewable energy programs and forestry projects, Lyft is aiming to reduce the carbon footprint created by the transportation industry.

“In the future all vehicles will operate with clean energy,” Lyft co-founder John Zimmer wrote in a blog post. “But climate change is not waiting. It’s happening now, and it presents a clear and immediate threat to our world and those who live in it. Action cannot wait.”

Last year, Lyft joined We Are Still In, Michael Bloomberg’s movement to show continued support of the Paris Climate Accord. With this newest multi-million dollar investment, Lyft is now one of the top voluntary purchasers of carbon offsets in the world.

The San Francisco-based ride-hailing group expects the new initiative to offset over a million metric tons of carbon, roughly equal to planting tens of millions of trees or taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road, in the first year alone.

Lyft has partnered with 3Degrees to independently verify all the conservation projects in which the company will be investing.