Is it too late to prevent climate change?
Amid a global pandemic, societal priorities have shifted dramatically. Governments, businesses, and communities are focused on navigating a public-health crisis and mitigating the effects of economic devastation. Against this backdrop, there is another threat to lives and livelihoods—climate change.
Can we still focus on climate risks and the broader sustainability agenda? Yes, and we cannot afford to wait. Researchers at McKinsey claim that if we fail to adapt and dramatically reduce emissions, hundreds of millions of lives, trillions of dollars of economic activity, and the world’s physical and natural capital will be at risk.
The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. – Milton Friedman
Could climate change become the weak link for your business? Global temperatures for the past five years were the highest on record. The impacts of global warming are beyond dispute, with droughts, storms, and other weather extremes on the rise.
Greater frequency and severity of climate hazards can create more disruptions in global supply chains—interrupting production, raising costs and prices, and hurting corporate revenues.
Temperatures have reached record heights in southern Italy, which has been badly affected by drought. Climate scientists say there is little doubt that climate change is driving extreme weather events.
What are businesses doing against climate change?
-Businesses across the world are doing their bit in the global transition to net zero emissions in a global effort to tackle climate change. Globally, over 5,200 companies of all sizes have now joined the UN Race to Zero, representing sectors like transport, technology, manufacturing, retail and finance.
-Business are sourcing eco-friendly products, creating green working spaces, also they are contributing to their local society making the planet a greener and safer place.
-Investments in green technology; Importantly, a low-carbon economic recovery could not only initiate the significant emissions reductions needed to halt climate change but also create more jobs and economic growth.
What countries do in the next decade will decide what world future generations will live in.
Change requires courageous leadership and a willingness to confront and tackle climate risks alongside other complex and competing priorities. Previous crises have underscored an important lesson: it is essential to focus on both the short-term challenge and the longer-term horizon. Tackling climate risk won’t be easy, but it will be worth it to build a more prosperous, equitable, resilient, and sustainable world.
The European Commission is proposing to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030,
compared to 1990 levels, up from our current target for 2030 of at least 40%. for a modernized and resilient EU economy and the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
While the effects of human activities on Earth’s climate to date are irreversible on the timescale of humans alive today, every little bit of avoided future temperature increases results in less warming that would otherwise persist for essentially forever. Without major action to reduce emissions, global temperature is on track to rise by 2.5 °C to 4.5 °C (4.5 °F to 8 °F) by 2100, according to the latest estimates by NASA.
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