What Is Climate Change -
Climate change refers to a long-term shift in the earth’s climate patterns and is caused by a variety of different reasons, particularly human activity such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes. These activities release large amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere, which trap heat and cause the Earth’s temperature to rise.
The increase in temperature is having a massive detrimental effect on the planet leading to rising sea levels, sudden changes in weather patterns, more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events.
Climate change is a global issue that requires immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce its impact on the environment and human society.
Ways To Tackle Climate Change -
Tackling Climate change is not an easy task and will require a collective effort from corporations and communities to make a change, especially focusing on corporations with just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions which is having a massive effect on the planet.
There are a variety of different ways to tackle climate change with little changes we can make in our life to have an overarching positive impact on the planet, these include,
- Switching to sustainable transport
- Keep fossil fuels in the ground
- Reduce plastic use and waste
- Recycle whenever possible
- Adopt sustainable practices such as reducing waste, recycle water and use environmentally friendly products
These are ways that individuals we can make a difference yet the lack of urgency from corporations to make a change is so surprising as companies particularly in the West, have been seen to prioritise the protection of the economy and growth for their own interests over the best interest of the planet.
There are many strategies these large corporations can adopt to help make a difference, some of the methods that need to be promoted to help tackle climate change within large companies consist of,
- Reduce the carbon footprint of your product
- Reduce employee carbon footprint
- Cultivate a zero-waste culture
- Create a climate-conscious workplace culture
- Reduce carbon emissions by adopting renewable energy sources
- Promote sustainability in the supply chain.
To address the role of large corporations in climate change, governments need to start regulating emissions and encourage companies to transition to sustainable practices and make corporations accountable for their actions as companies, yet consumers can also make companies more aware of sustainable practices by avoiding companies with a severe impact on the planet and choosing to support companies that prioritize suitability over extreme profits and with them wanting to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Carbon Footprint -
Carbon footprint is a common reoccurrence throughout helping track our effect on the planet in which it helps quantify the effect of our activities on the environment and climate change, a carbon footprint is a measure of an amount of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, that are released into the atmosphere because of human activities.
The typical sources of carbon emissions in a typical carbon footprint include,
- Burning fossil fuels
- Industrial processes that release greenhouse gases
- Deforestation and land use changes
Carbon footprints can be measured and tracked both individually and in organisations and looks at the actions made and the effect it has, tracking this and acting will help eradicate greenhouse gases emitted. Reducing the carbon footprint will help to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. Which can be done by acting commonly done by,
- Renewable energy sources
- Low carbon transportation options
- Reducing waste
- Sustainable diet
Awareness
One way to combat climate change is to raise awareness and educate society about the long-lasting impacts and effect it will have on our planet and how it will affect generations after us.
Events such as rallies and protest are becoming more common to help raise awareness on climate change. These events help draw attention to the issue and is typically shown on popular news outlets and scattered across social medias.
Communication is key to raising awareness in which we need to teach in schools and within organisations about how our actions are having a negative effect.