How serious is Global Warming?

First of all, it is rare to see Governments from around the world align behind one single overarching initiative, which is why businesses should take the upcoming COP26 seriously.

In November 2021, the UK, together with Italy, will host an event many believe to be the world’s last best chance to gain control over rapid climate change. For nearly three decades, the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits, COPs, which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’. Although governments have been meeting to discuss the climate, it’s state has continued to decline and is now a global emergency. This year will be the 26th annual summit, COP26. With the UK as President, COP26 will take place in Glasgow.

“Securing a brighter future for our children and future generations requires countries to take urgent action at home and abroad to turn the tide on climate change. It is with ambition, courage and collaboration as we approach the crucial COP26 summit in the UK that we can seize this moment together, so we can recover cleaner, rebuild greener and restore our planet.”

Boris Johnson

Published opening remarks for the intended United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

Around the world storms, floods and wildfires are intensifying, making daily news. The issue of air pollution is affecting the health of tens of millions of people, and unpredictable weather is causing untold damage to homes and livelihoods. There is no doubt that climate action needs to be taken.

In the run up to COP26, the UK is working with every nation to reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change, rapidly. More than 190 world leaders are expected to arrive in Scotland, alongside tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses, and citizens, for twelve days of talks.

COP21 took place in Paris in 2015 and for the first time ever, every country agreed to work together to limit global warming to below 2 degrees with an aim of 1.5 degrees, to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, and to award those which deliver on these aims.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed to bring forward national plans laying out how much they would reduce their emissions, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or ‘NDCs’. They also agreed that every five years they would come back with an updated plan, reflecting the highest possible ambition at that time.

COP26 should have taken place last year but was delayed due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

The commitments laid out in Paris did not come close to capping global warming to 1.5 degrees, and the window for achieving this is closing, making this next decade, until 2030 crucial.

The UK Government, hosts alongside Italy, have been proactive, publishing a 10-point plan “to invest in making the UK a global leader in green technologies”.

The UK Government plan focuses on the following areas:

1. Advancing offshore wind
2. Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen
3. Delivering new and advanced nuclear power
4. Accelerating the shift to zero emission vehicles
5. Green public transport, cycling and walking
6. ‘Jet zero’ and green ships
7. Greener buildings
8. Investing in carbon capture, usage, and storage
9. Protecting our natural environment
10. Green finance and innovation

The ten-point plan is intended to mobilise £12 billion of government investment, and potentially 3 times as much from the private sector, to create and support up to 250,000 green jobs.

Point 8 is of particular interest to the packaging industry as it relates to carbon usage.

According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2021, carbon emissions are the largest contributor to Global warming. It is expected that packaging will come under great scrutiny as most of the raw materials are derived from fossil fuels, e.g., oil, sand, and trees. Extracting these materials also require significant energy, throughout the complex array of machinery and processes.

The UK’s Industrial De-Carbonisation Strategy was released in March 2021 and it is anticipated that the initiatives mentioned, will also form the basis for the COP26 conference in November 2021. Which in turn, will hopefully lead to a common global approach.

The key points for packaging from the UK’s Industrial De-Carbonisation Strategy are that results, when calculating carbon footprint, must be credible, granular, accurate, transparent, and communicated through on-pack labelling, which is accessible for the consumer, e.g., a traffic light system as used for reporting nutritional information on packs.

Benchmark have conducted a case study analysis and can conclude that the UK Government’s approach is correct. Our software has been used to calculate 11,250 specification commercial & carbon emissions from source to factory gate, within the value chain with the accuracy, granularity, and transparency, that the government are expecting. We calculate at the stock keeping unit (SKU) level. Benchmark also offer carbon labelling for consumers, allowing brands and retailers to showcase their green credentials, and allowing their customers to make more sustainable packaging decisions.

The Benchmark online software solutions are credible, having been audited and approved by the University of Nottingham and a commercial Life Cycle Analyst.

Details of the case study are available on request