Sustainable Progress #26 | Navigating Water Stress, UN's Carbon Removal Definition, Combatting Greenwashing, and Nature Investment
Welcome to the 26th edition of Sustainable Progress by CarbonBetter. Subscribe to stay informed on sustainability news, as well as our latest blog posts and upcoming events.
In this edition, we navigate the complexities of water stress , explore the UN's stance on carbon removal , and talk about ways to avoid greenwashing . We also emphasize the significance of investing in nature as a fundamental component of your sustainability strategy.
Our Directors of Business Development, Dominic Sung and Della Jung , recently attended VERGE 23, where they engaged with industry peers in discussions on climate tech advancements. We look forward to the ongoing discussions from both VERGE 23 this past week and SB'23 the prior week, as well as sharing some of the insights our team has gathered through upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned for more.
(Mentioned: Verge & Sustainable Brands )
In the meantime, here's the latest news and upcoming events:
NEWS
Should You Be Stressed About Water Stress?
Water is a critical resource for individuals, businesses, and societies. However, there is a limited supply of usable water, and this supply is being threatened by many factors including climate change, pollution, and overuse. While climate and carbon are often front and center of sustainability discussions, water, and access to it, is a critical consideration for individuals and businesses. While a metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) may be hard to visualize, a gallon of water is not. We consume it, we bathe in it, we create products with it, but how often do we think about what it would be like to not have access to it (the nonprofit “Imagine a Day Without Water” encourages us to do just that annually on October 19)? Water-related disasters are on the rise—July 2023 saw record flooding events in the United States (US) in tandem with severe drought currently covering 32% of the US and Puerto Rico.
Inside the United Nations’ (UN) Definition of Carbon Removal
Countries and corporations alike are setting targets to reach net-zero, with varying timelines (some as soon as 2025 and others as far out as 2050). While there is general consensus that reducing global emissions and transitioning to renewable energy is critical, the tools we use to reach net-zero, including participating in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and avoidance vs carbon removals, has been the subject of intense debate. The actual definition of a “carbon removal” has been the latest in the debate over the implementation of a specific line under Paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: referred to as the Article 6.4 Mechanism, a specific provision calling for the creation of an international carbon trading program as part of the Paris Agreement.
Common Greenwashing Terms & Examples
In our previous blog post on greenwashing, we acknowledged the rising societal awareness around environmental issues and the surge in corporate environmental commitments. The landscape of greenwashing, full of misleading tactics but also, in some cases, well-intentioned efforts that went awry or were inaccurate, has grown increasingly complex since then. More and more companies are making claims, some of which are not always accurate, and while calling something greenwashing, or any of the new terms introduced here-in, can sometimes be used as part of a well-reasoned argument, it’s increasingly used as an easy catch-all term to suggest nefarious communications without the need to dig deeper. Simply labeling something as greenwashing in this way can be dismissive, and it gives people a pass to not talk about the problems or the challenges.
Investing in Nature As Part of Your Sustainability Strategy
When discussing sustainability, carbon footprints are often what first come to mind, especially with many countries and businesses making public commitments and taking actions to reach net-zero emissions. Although this focus on reducing and removing carbon emissions is immensely important for the health of our planet, one important aspect of sustainability has often been overlooked—nature. Over time, human activities such as pollution, deforestation, overfishing, and mining have degraded Earth’s ecosystems. These conditions endanger many species, made evident by the 69% decrease in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018. Nature loss also puts economies at risk, as businesses and governments rely on natural resources for agricultural production, energy generation, and much more. This destruction of nature has the potential to reduce global GDP by $2.7 trillion annually by 2030.
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EVENTS
Join Us for Our Next Climate Conversations Meetup!
DATE & TIME TBD—Join us for our next Climate Conversations meetup where you can discuss all things sustainability with people across industries. The first 30 attendees will receive a free drink ticket upon arrival! More details coming soon. Click below to make sure you get notified once we know more.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next edition of Sustainable Progress in two weeks. Feel free to contact us for any reason in the meantime.
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