Unfortunately it would seem so.
Over the last few months many businesses have faced many challenges and changing priorities. At the beginning of the year, it seemed everyone saw Global Warming as the number one initiative for 2022 and beyond following COP 26. But then the energy supply situation changed following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, threatening most industries across the world. Energy prices have increased, leading inevitably to inflation as prices have increased to protect profitability. Workers are now demanding higher wages across many sectors, or refusing to return to low paid jobs e.g., in the service industry post Covid. As much of the world appears to be coming out of Covid restrictions, the impact of de-stocking during Covid has led to broken supply chains longer lead-times, exacerbated still further by a ship collision in the Suez Canal. As a result, initiatives to reduce carbon emissions have slid back to number five or even six in the priorities.
Even though during the last few months alone we have witnessed a ferocious “heat dome” brought roasting temperatures to much of the US, placing around a third of Americans under hazardous-heat warnings. It came soon after a record heatwave in India, so brutal, birds fell from the sky. In addition, Spain, amongst many other European countries including the UK, experienced record temperatures for the time of year. Forest fires are being reported almost daily across many countries. Rivers are drying out, in Italy the worst in 70 years, thirsting the rice paddies of the river Po valley, jeopardizing the precious harvest of the Italian premium rice used for to make risotto.
Whilst floods, meanwhile, have been the worst in a century across the globe – in Northern India & Bangladesh and so fierce in America’s Yellowstone national park that entire bridges and buildings were washed away. About 50,000 residents in New South Wales, most in Sydney’s western suburbs, were told to either evacuate or warned they might receive evacuation orders as torrential rains kept battering Australia’s east coast, intensifying the flood crisis there. And 60 cities across China were put on a red alert for weather conditions.
This week though America’s 2030 sustainability target gained traction with emissions reductions in the United States, compared to historical levels, while supporting President Biden’s existing goals to create a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050. There are multiple paths to reach these goals, and the U.S. federal, state, local, and tribal governments have many tools available to work with civil society and the private sector to mobilize investment to meet these goals in doing so supporting a strong economy.
The US goal is to reach 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, which they say can be achieved through multiple cost-effective pathways each resulting in meaningful emissions reductions in this decade. Suggesting this will also mean good-paying jobs deploying carbon pollution-free electricity generating resources, transmission, and energy storage and leveraging the carbon pollution-free energy potential of power plants retrofitted with carbon capture and existing nuclear, while ensuring those facilities meet robust and rigorous standards for worker, public, environmental safety and environmental justice.
India is showing the ambition needed to meet the crisis of plastic waste through legislation. But sadly, there is little evidence to show how this will reduce their carbon emissions.
Nevertheless, earlier this year, India passed a law that will make it mandatory for producers, importers, and brand-owners – those who are most responsible for producing plastic – to recycle up to 50 percent they produce over the next three years. Having come into effect on 1st July, this new law hasn’t come at a moment too soon to tackle waste. Crucially, the measure resists the urge to just combat well-known and easily recycled PET, but all plastic types and materials. Likewise, under the regulations on Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic Packaging, there is the obligation in India to use recycled content in flexible, rigid and multi-layered packaging. Specifically, each material under this law will have its own mandatory usage of recycled content set. For example, Category I (rigid plastic) has the mandatory target of 30% of recycled content in the material by 2025, with 10% increases until 2028.
No one wants to hear solutions are complex, but they are and may differ to some extent by country when it comes to energy, will they produce more electricity from nuclear, gas, sea, solar, wind etc?
When it comes to packaging the problems and the solutions are common the world over, I would be amongst the first to recognise; Reduce, Reuse, Refill, Recycle, Recover energy to manage the waste and that all consumers be encouraged to dispose of packaging waste in an appropriate manner. I would add all packaging and waste management solutions must also be carbon footprinted (CO2e) as it is this that drives global warming.
Packaging must be measured at the level of the consumer pack as there are so many variables, the data must be to scope 3 and set against the global warming potential of 100 years, the data must be granular, must be accurately calculated to IPCC standards and transparently communicated. Furthermore, to gain consumer buy-in – the values generated must be produced by an independent third party as marking one’s own homework is less credible.
Benchmark uniquely delivers the CO2e value on all packaging materials and manufacturing processes including all waste and additionally for business it also provides the price in a fast, efficient low-cost solution, enabling informed decisions of both commercial and CO2e cost. As there is no industry vested interest Benchmark can be relied upon for consistent reporting and provide independent certified audits.
If you can’t measure it, how will you know if you have improved the situation.
Peter Drucker.
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