Tag: Global warming

Ominous Headlines but We Can Avert the Worst

by Kevin Cochran, posted in Clean Technology, Climate Change, Food and agriculture, Sustainable Cities

Governments Must Act and So Should We

The UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change released an ominous report this morning about the consequences of our collective inaction to combat global warming. Here’s what the headlines say:

Fox Business: “UN report: Global warming is likely to blow past Paris limit” (article)

CNN: “Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes” (article)

The Guardian: “Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible – IPCC’s starkest warning yet” (article)

A resident watches a wildfire on Evia island, Greece, as the region endures its worst heatwave in decades.
A resident watches a wildfire on Evia island, Greece, as the region endures its worst heatwave in decades, which experts have linked to the climate crisis. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images

The first step to react in a crisis is not to panic. The second is to evaluate the situation, get up to speed quickly, and then take action.

If you’re not up to speed with the circumstances causing global warming and what we can do to avert the worst, then I suggest Climate Solutions 101 by Project Drawdown. “Climate Solutions 101 is the world’s first major educational effort focused solely on solutions. Rather than rehashing well-known climate challenges, Project Drawdown centers game-changing climate action based on its own rigorous scientific research and analysis.”

If you are a business leader or influencer then why not consider how your business or companies you influence impact climate change, strategizing to exploit opportunities, and taking steps to be a social responsible company or enterprise? Here’s a starter for businesses, 10 actions Companies Can Adopt to Fight Climate Change.

Consider the case study of Interface, a global manufacturer of commercial and residential flooring, and the world’s largest manufacturer of modular tile. Company founder Ray Anderson had launched the company on an audacious path in 1994 to become not only a sustainable, but a regenerative, business. This story shows how integrating sustainability can not only make a difference in the world, but also provide a pathway to tremendous business growth: “Purpose At Work: Lessons From Interface On How To Lead With Purpose,” by Simon Mainwaring writing for Forbes.

For individuals, in addition to switching to alternative-fuel vehicles and adding solar panels to our rooftops, incorporating more plant-based foods into our diets is perhaps the most significant way we can make a positive difference. In fact, a study by Oxford University suggests that veganism is the single biggest way to reduce our environmental impact. Essentially, avoiding meat and dairy is estimated to reduce the average person’s carbon footprint from food by nearly three-quarters.

We can avert the worst consequences of climate change if government, industry, and individuals realize our predicament and take meaningful actions to transform systems and society. Time to get to work!

If you’re new to Sustainability X, welcome! We will present solutions to the climate change crisis over the coming weeks and months, and how you can get involved. Please join our movement and follow us by clicking the “FOLLOW” link in the footer below!

How to Save Our Vanishing World

by Kevin Cochran, posted in Animal welfare, Blue Oceans, Clean Technology, Climate Change, Food and agriculture, Waste and recycling

As reported by CBS news, “Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned conservationist, desperately wants the world to pay attention to what she sees as the greatest threat to humanity’s existence… Her soft-spoken grace somehow helped cushion what was otherwise extremely sobering news: ‘I just know that if we carry on with business as usual, we’re going to destroy ourselves. It would be the end of us, as well as life on Earth as we know it,’ warned Goodall.”

Time running out to save biodiversity as species go extinct, leading scientists say

The question is not whether our human resolve will be great enough to avert disaster (i.e. what the warning signs are telling us about climate change, extinction of species, and the vanishing of the world as we know it), but how we will do it. Everyday the sun shines is another day for optimism in our collective human spirit and ingenuity. And ingenuity begins when the biggest of problems reveal themselves.

Today, all it takes is a computer or smartphone and a few Google searches to discover the full scope of what we’re up against. The good news is that we can take meaningful action and re-plot our planetary trajectory away from global warming and the sixth mass extinction. But time is running out.

How can we save our vanishing world? Acknowledge the challenges before us. Heed the warning signs and educate yourself about the extent of the crisis. Seek out solutions like from Project Drawdown and get involved, or create your own solutions like these ambitious sisters.

Each one of us has a role to play. We can change our individual behaviors which in aggregate can change the world. Consider your purchase decisions and consuming less overall. Consider reducing meat and dairy in your diet. Consider some of the best ways to reduce greenhouse gases at home.

We’re all in this together. Just as we find common purpose in fighting our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, together we can fight to change course and save our vanishing world.

If you’re new to Sustainability X, welcome! We will present solutions to the climate change crisis over the coming weeks and months, and how you can get involved. Please join our movement and follow us by clicking the “FOLLOW” link in the footer below!

It’s a Game Changer

by Kevin Cochran, posted in Animal welfare, Climate Change, Food and agriculture, Health, Plant-based foods

Where does protein come from? It comes from meat, yes, but it originates in plants. And that is the central point of The Game Changers eye-opening documentary.

 

When elite athletes can improve their peak performance by converting to a plant-based diet, it utterly negates the ubiquitous and now debunked claims that meat-eating makes us stronger and healthier. How can it be that a vegetarian or vegan diet can actually make us more physically fit, healthier, and stronger than the perceived strong-man, armed-hunter, meat-eating archetype we’ve been conditioned to believe? Arnold Schwarzenegger sums it up in one word: marketing.

The Game Changers movie (on Netflix), produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jackie Chan, shows that our health is the top reason to eat less meat from animals. However, there are numerous other benefits of incorporating plant-based foods into our diets, none-the-least of which as said by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is that “making the transition to a plant-based diet may be the most effective way an individual can stop climate change.” Of course, it also helps reduce the sadly ever-increasing amount of animal suffering attributed to raising and slaughtering animals.

Wouldn’t we all be better off if we could just eat less meat? According to Project Drawdown, “Plant-rich diets reduce emissions and also tend to be healthier, leading to lower rates of chronic disease. According to a 2016 study, business-as-usual emissions could be reduced by as much as 70 percent through adopting a vegan diet and 63 percent for a vegetarian diet, which includes cheese, milk, and eggs. $1 trillion in annual health-care costs and lost productivity would be saved.”

Yes it can be difficult! Not only is meat-eating profoundly personal and cultural, it has been presented to us throughout our lives as the best choice, as well as normal and ethical. Now, not so much (…search “Ethics” on my previous post “Better than Beef?” on LinkedIn or my BLOG.) Fortunately, plant-based foods are proliferating and giving us all many more delicious choices. Times are changing from the days when “vegan” foods meant to plug your nose and swallow quickly. Some tasty examples include the alternative meats from Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Nestlé, and others; as well as amazing recipes from The Game Changers, Plant Based on a Budget, among others.

The first step may be to become a “flexitarian” and go from there. As reported by CNN, “This flexitarian diet includes plenty of fruits, vegetables and plant-based protein sources including legumes, soybeans and nuts, along with modest amounts of poultry, fish, milk and eggs, and small amounts of red meat.” Even if you’re not planning to become an elite athlete, going plant-based may just help you live longer and help save the world.

 

 

If you’re new to Sustainability X, welcome! We will present solutions to the climate change crisis over the coming weeks and months, and how you can get involved. Please join our movement and follow us by clicking the “FOLLOW” link in the footer below!

#sustainabilityX

 

Time to be Alarmed?

by Kevin Cochran, posted in Blue Oceans, Clean Technology, Climate Change, Food and agriculture, Investment & Divestment, Sustainable Cities, Waste and recycling

Alarmist announcements have a tendency of polarizing an audience. Yet at some point, we all need to know what the stakes are about climate change and how we can help. Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot make a simple case to Protect, Restore, and Fund.

 

If you’re new to Sustainability X, welcome! We will present solutions to the climate change crisis over the coming weeks and months, and how you can get involved. Please join our movement and follow us by clicking the “FOLLOW” link in the footer below!

#sustainabilityX