Ep. 7: CarbonTrac CEO Yasmine Abdu on how grocery shopping can fight climate change

Yasmine Abdu, CEO and founder of CarbonTrac, is on a mission to cut UK emissions by 5% by 2030. Using machine learning, partnerships with organizations including the United Nations, and a strategy to engage the entire supply chain, she’s driving change through the power of small, measurable shifts in consumer behaviour.We talk about how everyday grocery store choices can ripple throughout supply chains, why supermarkets are at the heart of this transformation, and how Yasmine combines emotional storytelling, gamification, and financial incentives to drive systemic change.What we cover:- Yasmine’s “aha” moment that sparked CarbonTrac.- Why 34% of global emissions come from food—and how supermarkets can influence the system.- The surprising maths: small swaps like dairy milk to oat milk for coffee can cut UK emissions by over 1%.- Bridging the gap between wanting to act sustainably and actually taking action (80% vs. 12%).- Using emotional incentives (“enough ice for penguins”) alongside financial rewards to shift habits.- Designing sustainability to be profitable for retailers, suppliers, and consumers.- Tackling legacy systems and risk-averse corporate cultures.- How CarbonTrac’s model could be applied to publishing, fashion, and tech.- Expanding into nutrition: AI-driven insights to address deficiencies and improve health.- The urgency of 2030 climate targets, and what needs to change now.More about Yasmine Abdu:Yasmine is the CEO and founder of CarbonTrac, an AI platform gamifying sustainable grocery shopping to make it easy and rewarding. Her work has attracted recognition from the UN, Samsung, Sage, and Huawei. Yasmine is driven by the belief that millions of small actions, done together, can reshape entire supply chains. Find out more at carbontrac.io