Craig Cohon

Craig Cohon is a London-based, Canadian businessman, climate activists and founder of walk it back, a global environmental campaign that works to promote international dialogue on carbon dioxide removal.

Craig Cohon
Born
Craig Cohon

Chicago, USA
NationalityCanadian
EducationUniversity of Western Ontario
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years active1986 – current
Known forLaunching Coca-Cola, Cirque du Soleil in Russia
SpouseJeanette Sundberg-Cohon (1992–2010)(divorced)
ChildrenTwo
Parent(s)Susan Silver Cohon, George Cohon

During his business career, he understood the importance of environmental issues,[1] investing in social and environment-driven businesses across the world and in 2000, he was named "A Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum.[2]

Campaigning for climate and carbon removal

In 2021, Cohon became the first private citizen to undertake a personal lifetime carbon audit following COP26 and discovered he had caused 8,400 tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere since his birth.

He committed to pay back his carbon debt giving over USD $1 million of his pension to clean carbon removal projects and challenged himself to walk over 4,000 km across Europe to engage in a global discussion about carbon removal with decision-makers, environmental experts and regular citizens he would meet on the way.[3]

From 3 January to 5 June 2023, Cohon, who is not a trained athlete, planned to walk 25 to 35 km nearly every day through the United Kingdom,[4] France,[5] Belgium,[6] the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic,[7] Austria,[8] Slovakia, Hungary,[9] Serbia,[10] Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. He is expected to complete his journey in Istanbul on June 5, which marks both World Environment Day and his 60th birthday.

The campaign is called walk it back and supports local clean city projects that accelerate carbon removal efforts in energy, transport, industry, agriculture, oceans and buildings.

In November 2022, walk it back published the research paper "Getting to Net Negative", which highlights the critical role that cities play in carbon removal.[11]

References
  1. "Why ethical conduct is stuck in a corporate ghetto". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  2. "Tank Magazine". Tank Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  3. "A Canadian Businessman Spent $1 Million to Offset His Carbon Footprint". Bloomberg.com. 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  4. "LONDON-BASED ENTREPRENEUR EMBARKS ON 4,000KM WALK IT BACK CAMPAIGN TO REVERSE HIS LIFETIME EMISSIONS". Yahoo Finance. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  5. Eure: Craig Cohon, ancien cadre chez Coca, marche 4000 km pour sensibiliser sur le climat (in French), retrieved 2023-04-24
  6. "Le millionnaire Craig Cohon est à Bruxelles alors qu'il relie à pied Londres à Istanbul". RTL Info (in French). 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  7. Ekolist, Zdeňka Kováříková (2023-03-11). "Bývalý manažer Coca-Coly chce pěší poutí Evropou podpořit odstraňování CO2 z atmosféry". Ekolist.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  8. "Millionär will Klimaschuld begleichen: "Sieben Millionen Schritte"". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  9. "Kanadai topmenedzser a Gerecséből: beletolja a nyugdíjalapját a Föld megmentésébe és gyalogol 4200 kilométert, hogy visszaadja a környezetnek, amit elvett tőle". Forbes.hu (in Hungarian). 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  10. Živić, Miona (2023-04-19). "Kanađanin u šetnji dugoj 4.000km u kampanji za uklanjanje ugljenika". N1 (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  11. https://walkitback.org/app/uploads/2022/11/REIxWIB_Policy-Dialogue-Paper-20.11.2022.pdf
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