The Finnish city of Lahti has come up with an innovative way to motivate residents to cut their carbon emissions: give them free cake.

The city has developed an app which tracks the carbon emissions of local residents based on whether they walk, bike, drive or catch public transport.

The CitiCAP app provides residents with a weekly carbon quota. Those who don't exceed their quota are rewarded with virtual euros that can be used to purchase public transport tickets, access to swimming pools, new bike lights and coffee and cake at local cafes.

"You can earn up to two euros (per week) if your travel emissions are really low," the project's research manager, Ville Uusitalo, told Euro News. “But this autumn, we intend to increase the price tenfold.”

Located just north of Helsinki, Lahti is already considered one of the most eco-friendly cities in Europe. The city won first prize in the European Green Capital 2021 competition for its air quality, waste, green growth and eco-innovation.

Lahti aims to be carbon neutral by 2025. Minimising people's reliance on car travel is a big part of the city's plan to reduce its environmental impact. Currently, 44% of trips taken in Lahti are considered sustainable. The city hopes to increase this figure to 50% by 2030.

The team behind CitiCAP also plan to measure consumption-related carbon emissions in future through the app.

"Mobility is only part of our carbon footprint," Uusitalo explained.

Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.