Things to watch in 2018
Our positive environmental actions don’t have to end as we enter the New Year, we’re getting ever closer to a tipping point that could mainstream environmental actions. It’s the time of year when we can look afresh at our lives and decide what to focus on. And when it comes to green New Year’s resolutions, looking at the waste hierarchy can provide us with some great ideas, corporates and individuals over the last year has left me optimistic as we head into 2018.
>1. Reduce
This is something we can all do. To reduce plastic wrap, for example, we can ask ourselves whether an item can be bought without packaging… or whether we need the item at all! Or, we can commit to cutting down on one plastic item this year – for example, less take away food.>2. Refocus on 1.5°C
At the UN climate conference in Paris (COP21) in 2015 governments collectively committed to holding global warming to below 2°C, and to strive for below 1.5°C. This year, attention will be back on the latter of these pledges as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the body responsible with providing governments with authoritative overviews of the latest climate science – releases its assessment on how global temperatures can be held within this lower limit, and what the impact could be on our planet. As policymakers (who are still too often sadly opposed by irresponsible corporate funded lobbying) look ahead to 2020, when they are expected to come back to the table and increase their ambition under the Paris Agreement, this will be a timely reminder of the impacts we are facing, and will help to define the pace and scale needed for the global transition to a climate-safe future for all.3. Reward emissions trading system
At the end of 2017 we saw the long-awaited launch of China’s first national carbon emissions trading system. The market will initially cover the high emitting power sector and will give these companies a financial incentive to clean up their operations. This move by China – as such an influential market and also the world’s number one polluter – is hugely significant. It will set new standards for carbon pricing around the world and further integrate environmental considerations into financial systems, making it clear that a global move towards addressing climate change is underway and irreversible. It is also revelatory to see that it is not just governments and regulators thinking about carbon carrying a financial value. In fact, more and more companies are factoring an internal carbon price into their business plans too.>4. Refuse and replace.
There have been ‘just say no’ campaigns throughout history, but sustained success in refusing waste is greatly aided when we have replacements for what we say no to. Refuse plastic bags, & replace with reusable ones. Have them ready at your door before leaving the house, or put one in each bag you regularly use. This extends to produce bags. We can either go without, or bring cloth bags to place unruly veggies in.5. Reporting going mainstream
Reporting doesn’t have to be negative though. We can spread the word about businesses who are doing the right thing too : Seventeen years ago, we set out to transform capital markets and make environmental reporting the business norm. In 2017, our vision took a major step towards reality, with the release of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure.In 2018, we are upgrading our global disclosure platform to enable reporting at scale against TCFD recommandations, meaning increasing alignment, measurement and action across the board from corporations.
6. Revolution employment
As the economy transition, 2018 is expected to be another booming year for jobs in the low carbon sectors. The best-known jobs story of 2017 was the rising force of solar power, employing 374,000 US workers from 2015-2016, a whopping 43% of the US energy sector’s workforce vs. fossil fuels employing just 22%. According to the latest 2017 IEA forecasts, solar will dominate energy growth until at least 2022, so this trend is set to continue worldwide and boosted by the growth of other renewable energy technologies such as wind power. But while the construction of our new economy will continue to power employment, a whole host of new sectors could spring up as we enter what some are calling the ‘third industrial revolution’. This revolution is transforming how we live and work, minimizing the amount of energy required for production. But it also poses the greatest job creation opportunity of this generation, and I personally think ICT and smart communications will be the biggest success stories of 2018.
Far from reliant on robots, the transition needs a skilled labour force more than ever; and that should be embraced by entrepreneurs, new graduates, small businesses and corporates the world over.
7. Reduce and Reuse and Recycle : This is something we can all do. While ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ is also a well-known instructional phrase, we can go even further, to how we think about waste, as well as what we do with it. To reduce plastic wrap, for example, we can ask ourselves whether an item can be bought without packaging… or whether we need the item at all! Or, we can commit to cutting down on one plastic item this year – for example, less take away food.
Reuse is another way to get creative, & can be really simple. For example, keep your pasta sauce glass jars & reuse as drinking vessels, vases or plant pots, as holders for candles or stationary, or as containers to put leftovers in.
Recycle. This word is commonplace, however we don’t always know all the things we can recycle. It’s time to step up to the recycling challenge; get the opportunity to recycle and reniew.
What do you think?