This two-part series highlights the urgent needs driving innovation in sustainability in part one, and leaders leading – examples of companies innovating for sustainability – in part two.
If necessity is the mother of invention, we would expect sustainability to spawn a new era of innovation. While many organizations across industries have already begun to develop innovative solutions for a sustainable future, there is widespread need for accelerating innovation, and organizations may need to step up their innovation commitments, resources and practices to play their part.
We are at a tipping point with environmental degradation and social inequities as The World Economic Forum (WEF) points out in its latest Global Risks Report 2021. A more recent UK assessment shows that the gap between the level of risk we face and the level of adaptation underway has widened. Further, the pandemic highlighted the fragility and resiliency issues associated with our food system, and amplified the need for continued support of agricultural research and development.
Writing in the New York Times earlier this year, Christopher Flavelle explains, “When extreme weather knocked out power and water in Texas, it represented a profound warning for the rest of the country. The nation’s vital infrastructure remains fundamentally unprepared for the shocks of climate change. What’s at stake: Everything that underpins modern life, including roads and railways, dams, drinking water and sewer systems, power plants, industrial waste sites and even our homes.”
In a joint statement earlier this month, 457 investors who control $41 trillion in assets signaled they want governments to “significantly strengthen” plans to cut carbon emissions in the next decade and hit detailed emissions targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, The Guardian reported.
The role of business in delivering scalable action in waste reduction is profound. A majority of the 300 C-level executives in a recent Dow survey consider (strategies for a circular economy) imperative, saying that recycling (71%) and waste reduction (68%) have had a “substantial” or “very large” influence on their organization’s strategic direction over the past two years.
While many organizations have leaned in to demonstrate efforts to mitigate these risks, it is not enough and the pace of action is too slow. For instance, according to the collective analysis of 41 scientists, net zero emissions targets “several decades into the future shift our focus away from the immediate and unprecedented emissions reductions needed. The impacts of the climate crisis are becoming increasingly severe, everywhere. We are experiencing heat waves, floods, droughts, forest fires and sea level rise as a result of global heating.”
Similarly, NextEra CEO Jim Robo thinks that net zero targets are ‘disingenuous,’ saying at a recent conference, “But the reality is that carbon capture technology doesn’t work and you’re not going to come up with a magic small reactor that will be cheap enough.”
In an interim report from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretary-General António Guterres declared a ‘red alert’ for the planet saying 2021 is a “make or break year” to address the climate emergency. “The science is clear, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we must cut global emission by 45 per cent by 2030, from 2010 levels”, he stressed.
Virginie Helias, Chief Sustainability Officer at Procter & Gamble says, “To make meaningful progress in this crucial decade, we must put innovation at the heart of solving planetary challenges. Businesses such as Procter & Gamble can play a crucial role in accelerating technologies that not only protect the planet but also regenerate it.”
To be clear, this is not just an environmental concern. Affluence, overconsumption and other social issues are often cited as key systemic issues that are challenging a sustainable future.
The United Nations has declared 2020 to 2030 ‘The Decade of Action to deliver the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Decade of Action calls for ‘accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges – ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.’ Hear what captains of industry like Paul Pullman, Ex-CEO of Unilever, Gillian Tett, Editor-at-large with the Financial Times, and many others have to say on the subject in this groundbreaking 30-minute documentary by Wim Vermeulen, Director of Strategy and Sustainability at Bubka.
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June 24, 2021 at 10:30PM
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How Sustainability Is Catalyzing Innovation Part 1 of 2: The Urgent Need - Environment + Energy Leader
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