Just imagine! You wake up in the morning with Buckets of Sweat and are about to wash off your face but wait! No Water from the tap, Ah! Already making you get up the wall. When you finally get a cup of tea and switch on the TV, the headline pops up that your Country’s forest caught fire. With exhaustion, you just change the channel, and baffling news comes up that glaciers are melting down so fast.
With a deep sigh, you just walk towards the window, and clouds start bursting. And when you start enjoying the rain, your house gets out of electricity. After lightening up the candles, when you turn around, you hear the screams of your neighbors. Shouting that a massive flood just hit up your town. Oh, the moment of despair! You rush to save yourself, but it’s too late now. Too late to the realization that GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE is at your door.
Yes, this can be you anytime soon, or by the end of 2030, or maybe in 2050.
Climate change is continually knocking at the door, and we are neglecting it while enjoying the junk food on our couches. So now it is all set to smash our doors and knock us down.
Our Beloved World is mistaken, overlooking the deadly and threatening human-caused Climate change. YES, HUMAN-CAUSED CLIMATE HAZARDS!
WHAT’S HAPPENING..?
Kick-off this with some basic science. CO2 (the heat-trapping gas) in the atmosphere with some other gases gets trapped in the air when sunlight enters the earth, and this process is mainly responsible for the increase in temperature on earth. This phenomenon is Green House Effect. Before today, this was considered to be life-saving, making the planet habitable for living beings. But now, this is becoming hazardous, and the reasons are evident.
RISE OF CO2
There is no doubt that this inevitable happening climate change is Man-made. As most scientists say, there is a 95% chance that human activities are responsible for these unprecedented changes. The rise of carbon dioxide from human activities is more than 250 times faster than it did after the last ice age.
After the pre-industrial era, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 increased by 48%. That is more than what was happening naturally over 20,000 years. Before 1950, the level of carbon dioxide never went up 280 ppm. And after that, we started breaking the records of CO2, and since then we have not stopped.
Why? Because we have been burning more fossil fuels like coal and oil that release huge concentrations of CO2 to power our houses, industries, airplanes, and cars. Moreover, the global population has tripled in 70 years, which means more humans and more intake of animal products than ever that release another pollutant gas; methane. That is also lethal for climate change.
WHY ARE WE CONCERNED WITH THE RISE OF CO2?
The world is concerned with the rise of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases. As these are responsible for the temperature rise of the earth. The last two decades have been recorded as the hottest years in history. 2016 and 2020 are at the top of the list. Most of the warming has occurred in the past 40 years. And it is mainly driven by uncontrolled emission of CO2 and other lethal gases.
The global temperature reached 1.02° Celsius (1.8° Fahrenheit) in 2020. And predicted to reach 1.5° Celsius by the end of 2030. The concern is not that earth is getting warmer, but that it’s happening too far quickly. The United Nations says that today our planet is about one degree hotter than in pre-industrial times (around the year; 1800). And if we warm by 1.5°C before the end of the century, it would be fine. Even 2°C would probably be alright. But the concern is speed because we are about to hit 1.5°C in only ten years.
If it is not going to slow down, it would be a catastrophe. That is already showing the trailers. Warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, melting glaciers, sea-level rise, and extreme events like floods, storms, drought, extreme heatwaves, and other chronic hazards are going to be a horror film for the world if actions would not taken soon.
BUSINESSES SHOULD START SENSING THE HIGH ALERT
The bell is ringing for businesses to change their ways and shake things up, or climate would do it for them. Industries should have learned from the covid-19 era that the world is vulnerable and fragile to any calamity. What Businesses need to be ready for any challenge is to be aware of the climate changes that are happening around the globe. So that they can start making strategies and taking actions while evaluating the impacts the businesses would probably suffer due to climate change.
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON BUSINESSES
Nobody knows precisely how climate change would alter the planet, but certainly, it will directly affect businesses, societies, and the ecosystem. According to Deloitte Global’s 2021 Climate Check report, over 80% of Business executives start feeling the pain of climate change and are concerned with future strategies.
Businesses are well aware of their contributions to quickly changing climate conditions. All Businesses are under pressure to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and adapt the strategies in support of a safe and healthy climate. But this is not easy for them as they are facing impacts as well.
Investment in emission control system
Businesses are under pressure to invest in systems to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. And this requires a significant amount of capital from energy sectors, utility companies, refineries, and power plants.
Need for the up-gradation
There is a high demand for businesses to upgrade their thinking and processes that facilitate climate initiatives. For example, bringing electric vehicles and other transport alternatives or shifting towards the renewable energy project.
Changing weather patterns has direct consequences
The agriculture sector would be one of the vulnerable sectors to climate change. From extreme heat to extreme cold to storms to hurricanes, all have direct impacts on the crops that would affect other businesses under it. Moreover, changing weather could be lethal for infrastructures and coastal communities, and insurance companies.
Changing demands for goods and services
Businesses must understand that changing scenarios would change the demanding products and services. It is the biggest challenge for businesses to stay relevant to the world.
Sustainability and maintaining the reputation
It is one of the biggest challenges for businesses to sustain in the changing environment while maintaining their reputation for being responsible for their roles in favor of climate change and the environment. Such as ‘go green’ is the movement that stakeholders need to focus on.
The obligation under the foreign accord
In Paris Agreement, different countries including, the USA, China, and Russia, signed the accord. And made targets for how much they would emit CO2 but, three years later of the agreement, the level of carbon dioxide is still rising.
As the USA pulled out of the deal while china and Russia were accused of not doing what their ambitious targets reflected. Other countries like turkey want to build more plants that use coal and oil. Bringing agreements to life seems back-breaking for the Countries.
RISK INTO OPPORTUNITIES
Businesses need to foresee the future and work on long-term goals rather than stick to short-term initiatives. Businesses already have insight that how their companies are playing role in affecting the globe monetarily and socially. Businesses sitting on the sideline waiting for the miracle to happen will be badly handicapped relative to those who are revising their strategies to cope with the challenges.
Climate change is not just a matter of social corporate responsibility but a business problem as well. Companies on the right track with this approach and competitive strategies would find vast opportunities in changing environment scenarios.
With the changing time, new and expanded products, services, and market opportunities will be created. Businesses need to be oriented towards renewable energy, regenerative practices in agriculture, climate risk-related products, supply chain innovations, resilient infrastructures, and investments.
If actions would not taken in time, alarming risks would be intensified in climate-related disasters. Businesses can succeed if society thrives in a better way. The future of our planet, people, and businesses depends on the timing of taking measurable, decisive actions on climate change. The world needs it before it’s too late.
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