Just last week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change unveiled an earth-shaking report tagged a “code red for humanity”
The landmark report revealed that Global warming is dangerously close to spiraling out of control. The warning was that the world is certain to face deadly climate disruptions for decades or even centuries if nothing drastic is done now.
U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres was indeed the one who tagged the report a “code red for humanity”.
“The alarm bells are deafening,” he said in his statement. “This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet.”
Humans are “unequivocally” to blame, the report from the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said.
In the panel’s view, “rapid action to cut greenhouse gas emissions could limit some impacts, but others are now locked in. The deadly heat waves, gargantuan hurricanes and other weather extremes that are already happening will only become more severe.”
In an interview with Reuters, activist Greta Thunberg called on the public and the media to put “massive” pressure on governments and corporate organisations to act.
The UN Report
Drawing on more than 14,000 scientific studies, the IPCC report gives the most comprehensive and detailed picture yet of how climate change is altering the natural world – and what could still be ahead.
“Unless immediate, rapid and large-scale action is taken to reduce emissions, the report says, the average global temperature is likely to reach or cross the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming threshold within 20 years.
“The pledges to cut emissions made so far are nowhere near enough to start reducing level of greenhouse gases – mostly carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels – accumulated in the atmosphere”.
Governments and campaigners have started reacting to the findings with alarm.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the report would be “a wake-up call for the world to take action now, before we meet in Glasgow”.
The report says emissions “unequivocally caused by human activities” have already pushed the average global temperature up 1.1C from its pre-industrial average – and would have raised it 0.5C further without the tempering effect of pollution in the atmosphere.
That means that, even as societies move away from fossil fuels, temperatures will be pushed up again by the loss of the airborne pollutants that come with them and currently reflect away some of the sun’s heat.
A rise of 1.5C is generally seen as the most that humanity could cope with without suffering widespread economic and social upheaval.
The 1.1C warming already recorded has been enough to unleash disastrous weather. This year, heat waves killed hundreds in the Pacific Northwest and smashed records around the world. Wildfires fuelled by heat and drought are sweeping away entire towns in the U.S. West, releasing record carbon dioxide emissions from Siberian forests, and driving Greeks to flee their homes by ferry.
The outcome saw 500,000 acres of forest burning in California, while in Venice tourists waded through ankle-deep water in St. Mark’s Square.
Locals evacuate the area with their animals as a wildfire rages in the suburb of Thrakomakedones, north of Athens, Greece on August 7, 2021.
Further warming could mean that in some places, people could die just from going outside.
“The more we push the climate system … the greater the odds we cross thresholds that we can only poorly project,” said IPCC co-author Bob Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University.
But even to slow climate change, the report says, the world is running out of time.
If emissions are slashed in the next decade, average temperatures could still be up 1.5C by 2040 and possibly 1.6C by 2060 before stabilising.
And if, instead the world continues on its the current trajectory, the rise could be 2.0C by 2060 and 2.7C by the century’s end.
The Earth has not been that warm since the Pliocene Epoch roughly 3 million years ago – when humanity’s first ancestors were appearing, and the oceans were 25 metres (82 feet) higher than they are today.
It could get even worse, if warming triggers feedback loops that release even more climate-warming carbon emissions — such as the melting of Arctic permafrost or the dieback of global forests.
Under these high-emissions scenarios, Earth could broil at temperatures 4.4C above the preindustrial average by the last two decades of this century.
Edward Parson, faculty co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA, told USA TODAY that while climate change is a result of human actions, steps like turning down thermostats would need the collective effort of the more than 7 billion people on Earth.
“It doesn’t matter whether there’s a ton of carbon emitted in California, or Canada or India, each is contributing the same to climate change. So we need to get the whole world involved, and that’s what makes this such a challenging problem,” said Dave Rapson, an associate professor in the department of economics and co-director of the Davis Energy Economics Program at UC Davis.
Rapson said, it’s not too late to try to fix Earth’s problems as long as the amount of human emissions drops over the next several decades.
According to the report’s authors, countries must cut global emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero by the middle of this century, which can be done by investing in clean technology and natural climate solutions.
Response from Global Brands and Campaigners
Global brands and environmentalists have been responding to the report. Just days after the report was released, PepsiCo announced its ambition to become ‘net water positive’ by 2030, aiming to replenish more water than the company uses.
Concern for the environment in developed economies is increasingly becoming a prime factor that forms the core of the buying process.
An advertising veteran in India and founder of boutique branding and communications advisory SSARMA Consults Sanjay Sarma, is as passionate about sustainability as he is about brands. He is closely involved with the International Climate Summit 2021 on “Powering India’s Hydrogen Ecosystem” to be held in New Delhi.
So, last week, when the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its landmark study, which said human activity has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land causing extreme heatwaves, floods and droughts, he was quick to underline the need for brands to adopt sustainable practices.
While the UN chief termed the report “code red for humanity”, scientists put the spotlight back on what corporates, brands and consumers because they feel they could do a lot to save the planet by ensuring deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases to halt the rise in temperatures.
“We only have one,” said Sarma, adding that while consumers could pledge to reduce material consumption, brands could commit to reducing the use of fossil fuel-based materials.
While PepsiCo, Inc. announced its ambition to become “net water positive” by 2030, aiming to replenish more water than the company uses, FMCG major, Unilever said it will replace 100% of the carbon derived from fossil fuels in its cleaning and laundry product formulations with renewable or recycled carbon. This would reduce the carbon footprint of brands such as Surf, Sunlight, Vim and Domex.
In India, a company has innovated water-saving formulations for Rin laundry powders and bars that reduce the water needed for rinsing. They believe water would be conserved if we would need to rinse our clothes just once after washing.
Two months ago, homegrown Dabur India said it was doing away with the paper cartons for its flagship Ayurvedic toothpaste brand Dabur Red Paste.
Sarma also revealed that in countries like Iceland, toothpastes are being sold without the outer cardboard box, saving tonnes of waste being tossed in landfills. Also, Unilever’s promise to eliminate fossil fuel from its cleaning products will definitely carry a well-meant message to consumers about the company’s intent and make a deep impact on their buying behaviour in times to come, he added.
Today’s consumer is largely well-informed and conscious of his/her existence and role in the ecosystem. Concern for the environment is now one of the prime factors besides health, safety and economics that form the core of the buying process, he said.
More consumers were willing to pay a higher premium for sustainable brands in a clear trend indicative of changing consumer preferences. It is only common sense that consumers are more likely to favour companies and brands that they believe care about the living conditions on Earth and the well-being of their children and grandchildren over those who seem committed only to their owners.
It is thus advisable for more brands to become committed to sustainable practices, not just because it is expected of them as responsible corporate citizens, but also because it will increasingly make better business sense,” he added.
While at the moment brands may be using their commitment to sustainability to differentiate themselves from their competitors, it will soon become the barest minimum that consumers will require from any brand seeking their patronage.
The Nigerian Angle
In Nigeria, the sustainability fire is catching up gradually. For instance, The Godrej Group, popular in Nigeria for her hair extension brand Darling, is executing her vision 2020 for People, planet, and product. Its vision is to train 1 million people in skills that will enhance their income while achieving zero waste to landfill. The vision also covers the passion to be carbon neutral, to achieve positive water balance, reduce specific energy consumption and increase the use of renewable energy as part of its total vision for the planet.
Similarly, a popular financial institution, WEMA bank is ensuring paper usage reduction in its operations through various initiatives. On how it is going about this, the bank revealed that “they want to use less paper, print less, use less ink, and save electricity. Presently, they have fully digitized intra-bank correspondence and eliminating paper. All reports, memos, and forms are completed online and approved without printing.
.Worthy of acclaim is Coca-Cola’s milestone completion of the 100% water replenishment drive five years before the planned completion date. One of such key initiatives was the partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), started in 2007, which targets five focus points: conserving the seven important freshwater basins, improving the company’s water efficiency, reducing the company’s carbon footprint, agricultural sustainability and inspiring others to take action.
Through its ‘Paper-to-Pencil Initiative,’ Access Bank currently recycles notebooks/paper souvenirs of Access Bank and Diamond Bank and old newspapers to pencils. Over 10,000 primary and secondary school students have benefited from this initiative. Also with this initiative, the Bank can ensure environmental protection, through the automation of all its processes to improve efficiency and limit the impact on the environment through the reduction of paper consumption.
For Stanbic IBTC Bank, the tree planting exercise led by the Bank’s Chief Executive Dr Demola Sogunle, alongside some other executives remains one of the best ways to celebrate the milestone and to contribute to the environment by planting trees to prevent deforestation in the country. In contributing to the environmental wellbeing of the communities we serve, the species planted were carefully selected to ensure that they were of good quality, medicinal and evergreen.
In its recently released 2020 Sustainability Report, the Bank showcased its positive contributions that were centred on achieving the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are geared towards improving societies for humanity and advancing sustainable development in the Nigerian community.
The Way Out
Brands globally must have the willingness to pick up the mantra of sustainability as change agents since they wield a large influence in shaping culture., Merely printing slogans on cloth bags isn’t going to be enough anymore. The brand voice should be strong enough to shape consumer behaviour towards demanding sustainability as an uncompromising value, he added.
But in an intensely competitive marketplace that exists today, brands are unlikely to voluntarily go green, especially if it doesn’t make economic sense. Clearly, the changes need to be instituted at a global and systemic level for people and societies across countries to work together as one—governments, media, corporations and, most importantly, consumers as guardians of the world environment.