MISSION POSSIBLE: It’s time to tackle environmental challenges
We are living in a world faced by man-made threats to societal, environmental and economic well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic recession, growing social inequality, climate change – these factors only begin to scrape the surface.
In 2015, United Nations member States came together to adopt a global strategy that would support inclusive sustainable development and economic growth across the world. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set objectives that guide States on how to overcome existing sustainability challenges and go beyond to improve the quality of life of human beings everywhere in the world.
It’s one thing to set an objective and it’s another to implement it. Achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda is beneficial for all parties involved: the state, the business sector, civil society and local communities; therefore, each of these stakeholders needs to play a role in the implementation of these goals.
COVID-19 has illustrated the grave impact social problems can have on the economy, while the impending adverse impact of the climate change can harm us even more.
In 2016, world leaders, experts and the private sector once again came together, this time to unite forces around yet another vital deal – the Paris Agreement, pledging to keep global temperatures ‘well below’ 2.0 C above pre-industrial times and preferably limit warming to less than 1.5 C.
Even though the governments of the signatory States are responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the agreement, the private sector plays a crucial role in achieving the set objectives of the Climate Deal.
The Climate Crisis: where do we stand?
According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) article on the Climate Events of 2020, dated January, 2021, carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere are the highest they have been in 650,000 years. Emissions have been increasing despite the economic recession and the closure of many companies. These shutdowns reduced the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2020, but overall CO2 concentrations continue to increase.
Further according to the NASA review, 2020 has been a challenging year with immense wildfires in Australia, Siberia, and the United States. Australian bush fires burned 46 million acres of land, releasing massive smoke and other particles in the atmosphere. A record temperature rise was recorded in Siberia in 2020 amounting to 37C in some parts of the region. Furthermore, according to a Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) temperature analysis, the Arctic has been warming more than three times as fast as the rest of the globe over the past 30 years. Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, while 19 of the warmest years since 1880, have occurred after 2000.
Climate change is affecting everyone, especially the poor and vulnerable, and exacerbates food and water scarcity. If states do not take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the years ahead will be more challenging with natural disasters destroying societies and economies.
Why is the Climate Deal important?
The Paris Agreement is a global response to climate change. 194 States and the European Union are signatories to the Agreement as of January 2021, admitting to the grave reality the world is facing if countries don’t come together and take significant steps.
The implementation of the Paris Agreement calls for economic and social transformation, requiring technological development and innovations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world as soon as possible. Countries from the developed world have taken on the responsibility to financially support and build up the capacity of more vulnerable States in the implementation of the obligations of the treaty.
Each State party to the Agreement, including Georgia, is responsible for the adoption of ambitious 5-year national plans on climate action, which outline steps directed at reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to reach the objectives set by the Paris Deal. These steps will accelerate the transition of States to low-carbon economies, and the regulations they adopt in this process will put pressure on major stakeholders to align their business practices with these aims.
Business case for environmental sustainability
Business leaders throughout the world have been increasingly recognizing the urgency of climate change and taking steps to transform their operations, aligning with the 1.5C trajectory.
One of the initiatives that unite businesses to set emission reduction targets is The Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign backed by a global network of UN agencies, business and industry leaders. Companies joining the campaign commit to set science-based emissions reduction targets across their entire value chain.
But why are companies drawn to commit to climate action? Besides the above-mentioned arguments on the impact of climate change on the market economy, companies see business growth potential in ecologically sustainable products and services.
225 of the world’s 500 largest companies surveyed by the Carbon Disclosure Project CDP) reported that climate related business opportunities amount to $2.1 trillion dollars.
Further according to the CDP survey carried out in 2019, 215 of the biggest global companies report almost $1 trillion in risks from climate change impact, with many likely to come due within the next five years.
While large companies throughout the world have already commenced the transformation of their operations and taken into account climate-related targets in their business plans, small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) remain vulnerable to this change due to a lack of knowledge and capacity.
Eco-innovation, an approach adopted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the support from the European Commission, is a new business approach which promotes sustainability throughout the entire life cycle of a product, while also boosting a company’s performance and competitiveness. The approach has been adopted to particularly support SMEs in the corporate transformation process.
Eco-innovation can help SMEs access new and expanding markets, increase productivity, attract new investments to their business, increase profitability across the value chain and help them stay ahead of regulations and standards.
What’s Next?
We are living in a world of rapid transformations that will require further accelerated action in the years to come to effectively tackle social and climate challenges. Especially now with the United States rejoining the Paris Agreement in 2021 and setting ambitious climate goals, these global processes are back on the fast-track. Sustainability will drive the markets of the future.
While it is important to be up-to-date and act swiftly, it is also impossible to do it alone. The steps taken by the State, the business community and civil society actors need to be coordinated and complimentary. The future demands unity.
The time for asking Why? is long gone, the time for How? and When? is limited, since the time for Concrete Rapid Actions is already here!
Salome Zurabishvili – Executive Director Global Compact Network Georgia