Group3_D | SDG13: Climate Change - We are in the 'Endgame' now!

Introduction to Climate Change

- by BMD Group3

The 20 of the warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years. - The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

"Climate change is occurring in a world that is already highly unequal and unjust and, therefore, accentuates and deepens that injustice." – Colm Regan, 80:20 Development in an Unequal World.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects every nation and every person on earth. Although humans finally realize the impact of climate change in weather patterns, rising sea levels, and geophysical disasters, climate-related disasters are still causing economic losses of hundreds of billions of dollars. This is apart from the human impact, which has resulted in the death of 1.3 billion people and injured 4.4 billion people between 1998 and 2017.

The developing countries are particularly suffering the most. The basic requirements of a living being, such as nutritious food and clean drinking water, are already inaccessible to most developing countries. Further, drought, soil erosion, depletion, and increased health and security risks have either been caused or increased by climate change. Not only are we far off from the goal to meet a 1.5 or 2°C decrease decided in the Paris Accord, but there are also a few countries, including the USA, which are living in denial and have withdrawn from the most significant initiative to combat climate change.

If 'business as usual' continued in the current situation, there may be an increase of 4 degrees in the global temperature by the end of the century due to the greenhouse effect's acceleration. Such a significant change in global temperature would have severely affected the climate and pushed us further back in our efforts to combat this issue and revive our planet.

Indian Context of Climate change

India is in great danger concerning environmental change with an enormous coastline alongside significant ice sheets filling in as wellsprings of different living things. The nation has seen many disasters, for example, cyclone Amphan, Assam floods, flooding in other parts of the country, and is one of the most vulnerable nations in terms of environmental change impacts.

India has taken up various measures and interrelated policies to combat climate change and has played a significant role in the Paris Agreement's success.

In a global virtual gathering, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "India will exceed climate goals," indicating that India will overachieve its climate goals by 2030^[12].

India has successfully reduced the emission intensity to 21% over that of 2005 level. India has the fourth-largest capacity of renewable energy and will reach 175 MW before 2022. The target may be raised to 227 GW for 2030^[13]. India will be achieving 40% of the power to be obtained from renewable energy much before the timelines. It isn't generally realized that the nation has a too high cess on coal, of the request for Rs.400 per ton, proceeds from which go into a Clean Energy Fund. India is likewise dedicated not to structure any new thermal power plants which are not of the supercritical classification. It will be made possible because of a fold strategic approach that includes a Plan for New and Renewable Energy and the National Solar Mission. Moreover, the government of Indian has taken initiatives to enhance the production of wind energy to 60,000 MW by 2022.

India has taken two significant initiatives towards climate change: Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and International Solar Alliance.

Business Implications and Responses

People worldwide are demanding actions related to climate change from the governments, business leaders, and large MNCs. In India, businesses also realize the need to go for renewable energy and water conservation. Committing towards the environmental impact caused by the corporations, a non-profit organization, CDP^[3] (Carbon Disclosure Project), was created to collect data and motivate the businesses to disclose their environmental impact data. This collected data is then used to help the companies to make decisions and minimize their ecological footprint. Every year more and more companies are pledging towards climate change. As a result, the number of companies disclosing their environmental impact data increases every year (as shown in the graph below)^[4].

We will now discuss the major companies and their initiatives concerning climate change.

Accenture^[5][6]:

Globally, Accenture has signed the UN Global Compact's Business Ambition by pledging to do their part to keep in check global warming below 1.5 degrees. They have also committed to converting their electricity into 100% renewable energy. In India and globally, Accenture is currently working towards reducing the carbon emissions of their oil and gas clients by 80% by the year 2050. It has also pledged to recycle or reuse all their office furniture and electronic waste by 2025, and they are currently working on a project, which on completion, will reduce the impact of drought, flooding, and scarcity of water on their business and their clients located in the high-risk areas. Accenture started its campaign of environmental protection in 2007, and since then, it has saved approximately 1.94 million MWh of electricity and a reduction in CO2 emissions by 1 million metric tons.

Tata Steel^[1][2]:

Tata Steel has contributed to the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) data collection program since 2008. It receives data for the average and companies' best performance to compare itself and strive for betterment. As per the CDP, it is amongst the top 3% of the total assessed companies. It is recognized for reducing emissions and managing the climate change factors in its supply chain. It has projects like Hlsarna, which is an innovative iron making technology for a low carbon economy. It has also invested in carbon capture pilots and Carbon capture and utilization at the Jamshedpur plant. It has received several awards for its actions to fight against climate change.

StateStreet^[7]:

The company started with a few steps related to environmental goals back in 2006, where they decided to reduce waste generation and increase reuse as much as possible. Moving forward to 2016, new plans have been set where the company aims to reduce its emission per square meter by 30% compared to 2015. This goal is good enough to reduce the environmental temperature by 2 degrees celsius. As per the data of 2019, there is a 31% reduction in carbon emission, a 21% reduction in water usage, and a 72% recycling rate. They are further trying to become carbon neutral soon. The company has employee engagement programs to increase participation and awareness amongst people and achieve goals efficiently.

Sanofi:

Sanofi is pursuing multiple projects to reduce fossil energy consumption by reducing energy consumption, increasing energy efficiency, and shifting to renewable fuel. They are also designing combined heat and power units at various European sites to significantly reduce their energy spending and lower their exposure to any future carbon tax.

To preserve biodiversity, Sanofi implemented actions such as limiting the quantities of genetic resources used for research, identifying protected natural substances (CITES list), and finding alternative solutions. They also establish contracts with suppliers stipulating that they must comply with international conventions and national regulation on preserving biodiversity, including with the Nagoya Protocol

Analysis

The time to think about 'climate change' is way past. It is time to act before it's too late. WWF is encouraging companies to go 'carbon positive' instead of only 'carbon neutral.' Organizations have the capability as well as the resources to make changes on a large scale. The idea is to keep the environment and sustainability at the center of every decision, instead of keeping it as an after-thought.

A big part of the fight against climate change is to turn towards renewable energy sources to meet our requirements. But fossil fuels still account for close to 70% of our energy consumption^[8]. Hydro, solar, and wind energy are leaders here and are touted to be at the forefront in the race against fossil fuels. An initiative like 'RE100'^[10] is the need of the hour that brings together the most prominent global organizations to commit towards 100% renewable energy. It includes big names like 3M, Accenture, American Express, H&M, Nestle, etc. In the meantime, it is the responsibility of the organizations and consumers to ensure that energy wastage is minimized and move towards becoming ecologically aware of their actions. As consumers, we can take simple steps to ensure we reduce our plastic purchases, use products to their full extent, and properly dispose of them. Organizations need to develop products on the cradle to grave life cycle rather than the gate to gate life cycle. They need to reduce the emissions within their manufacturing and value chain processes, integrate the effect on climate in their business decisions and positively influence their customers, suppliers, stakeholders, etc^[11].

Landmark initiatives such as the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accord have also played a significant part in creating a change in attitude. One hundred ninety-six countries had signed the Paris Accord to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. However, recently, the US pulled out of the agreement.

But the actual effect and progress of the initiatives to prevent or slow down climate change need to be evaluated. Recently, 2020 was crowned the 2nd hottest year to date, with 2019 now moving to the 3rd place^[9]. The past year even saw multiple heatwaves, forest fires, hurricanes, etc., along with a record high ocean temperature. All of this indicates that although we are taking steps, they are not enough to keep up with the pace of climate change.

Additionally, developing countries like India, China, etc., have to juggle economic development and sustainable development. As per a NASA study, our planet is greener than it was 20 years ago. This change is being led by India and China, who together accounted for 1/3rd of this greening. In Europe, the UK has announced that they will ban petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030 apart from their existing strict environmental norms. So although some of the nations are taking the lead to deal with climate change together, countries, governments, and people must implement these changes rather than working alone.

The way ahead

India is the third-highest emitter of carbon-dioxide and is responsible for almost 7% of global emissions. However, India's emission per capita is one of the lowest in the world. India has successfully achieved the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) as stated in the Paris Agreement of 2015. For instance, India had a goal to achieve 40% cumulative electric power by 2030, and it has already reached 95% of this goal. Other than this, India had committed to reducing its emission intensity by 35% in 2030 from 2005 levels. Given the current condition, India is set to reduce the emission intensity in the range of 35-50% by 2030. India's third NDC commitment was to increase the forest cover to create an additional carbon sink of more than 2500 million tons of carbon dioxide. The progress on this front has instead been limited.

The most successful plan undertaken by the Government of India is the "National Action plan on Climate Change," which encompasses various initiatives such as National Solar Mission, Green India Mission, National Water Mission, etc. The plan has set out clear targets and objectives such as increasing water efficiency by 20%, increasing forest cover by more than 10%, etc. These goals, if achieved, can help us mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. So, we need better implementation planning to achieve these goals.

When we look at the SDG 13 from a global perspective, the critical goal is the UNFCCC goal of limiting the global temperature rise below 2 percent and further reducing the limit to 1.5%. This goal would require the world to transform its energy industry, food, transport, and forestry system to reduce the carbon emissions to one trillion tonnes of cumulative carbon.

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Group3_D | SDG13: Climate Change - We are in the 'Endgame' now!

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