It's Now or Never

It’s June, so we’re taking a closer look at our planet, with World Environment Day on the 5th, and World Ocean Day on the 8th. And what better time to check on the state of our Climate Emergency because when it comes to our planet the stakes have never been higher…

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

The first thing you see when you arrive at the World Environment Day Website is the simplest of statements.

In the universe there are billions of galaxies

In our galaxy are billions of planets.

But there is only one earth.

And really that says it all. We are guardians of the only planet of its kind, teeming with life and the beauty of nature. But the state of the earth today is living proof that we’re failing on an industrial scale, with the natural world in a scary state of accelerating decline, according to the landmark 2019 IPBES report.

STATE OF THE PLANET

Let’s put it in perspective. According to a definitive 2011 study by the National Geographic Society, there are an estimated 8.7 million species on our planet (though we should caveat that with subsequent estimates ranging from between 5.3m and one trillion – yep, that’s twelve noughts).  Regardless, it is also estimated that an extraordinary one million species are at risk of extinction today. And it’s not just the animals we should be worrying about. If we carry on the way we are, between 2030 and 2050 around five million people will also die directly as a result of climate change.

According to the IPBES report, 75% of land and 66% of oceans have been ‘significantly altered by human actions', and more than a third of the world’s land and almost 75% of freshwater resources are devoted to rearing crops or livestock. The harvest of raw timber has risen by 45% and 60 billion tons of renewable and non-renewable resources are extracted every year, a number that has nearly doubled in just 40 years.

To quote IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson:

“The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide”

We don’t want to kill the vibe, but it’s important to acknowledge the seriousness of where we are now before any of us can even begin to make change happen at any level. But first, like so many people we feel totally bewildered as to why and how this has been allowed to happen? It just makes no sense.

Even the corporate and manufacturing giants – those currently with the largest stake in the most destructive money makers (such as fossil fuels, manufacturing, heavy industry, travel, and intensive farming) can see that there’s no point sitting on a mountain of cash if your planet is ablaze. Of all people surely they have the most to gain from heavily investing in safeguarding their cash cow of a planet – and giving the human race and animal kingdom a future.

STOCKHOLM+50

While we are in one of the most critical times for our planet’s survival, such concerns are far from new. On 5th June 1972, the first UN Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, with an agenda to raise awareness of the fragility of our global ecosystems. While in those days it was much easier to dismiss even cautious concern as scaremongering, at that initial meeting there was enough of a need, an acknowledgment, and a desire for change for the UN to designate every future 5th June World Environment Day.

Fifty years on, and WED is back in Stockholm, which is co-hosting the 2022 conference with Kenya and recycling the original slogan as one of the event’s key hashtags #OnlyOneEarth (search your socials and tag anything you’re sharing with that and #WorldEnvironmentDay). The objective of the 2022 World Environment Day Campaign is to call for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet. But what does that look like?

There are so many threats to the future of our environment that it can feel overwhelming. Climate change, of course, is the first. If we don’t slow the process of global warming, we’ll not have a planet to save – and extreme weather events are impossible to ignore. So, we have all got to ensure that we are rethinking our carbon emissions personally and in our purchasing behaviour. 

Another huge concern is extinction and biodiversity loss. As a planet, we must pressure the companies that shape production to slow and reverse intensive farming and over-fishing by looking beyond labels, by changing the way we consume, by lobbying for change and by taking our business and our power as consumers to the companies that build genuine husbandry, seasonality, and environmental longevity into their sourcing, growing and production processes.

Air and water pollution affect everybody on the planet and every species too. At a time when 99% of the population daily breathes in polluted air (directly causing 3.8 million deaths every year) this has got to change. We can all cut down on driving and air travel, but to achieve clean air we need governments and industry to make radical change. Water pollution, too, is deadly. For people and the species that live in water. Again, we can all do our bit, but while 83% of our water contains microplastics – and we’ll get to the ocean in a minute – something just has to be done.

Back to Stockholm+50 and while there’s a bewildering number of keynote speeches, workshops, side events going on, the event focuses on four plenary sessions ‘to give leaders the opportunity to outline the bold and urgent action needed to safeguard planetary health and accelerate the implementation of the UNs 2030 Agenda and its SDGs (sustainability development goals).

SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

The 2030 Agenda is based upon five Ps: People (to end poverty and hunger), Planet (to protect), Prosperity (to share, so we can all afford to live in harmony with nature), Peace (you can’t build sustainability in times of war) and Partnership (global strength in numbers).

There are 17 SDGs and as sustainability solutionists, here at Cyd Connects they are essential to our founding principles and always bear repeating.

They are: 1. No Poverty, 2. Zero Hunger, 3. Good Health & Wellbeing, 4. Quality Education, 5. Gender Equality, 6. Clean Water & Sanitation, 7. Affordable & Clean Energy, 8. Decent Work & Economic Growth, 9. Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, 10. Reduced Inequalities, 11. Sustainable Cities & Communities, 12. Responsible Consumption & Production, 13. Climate Action, 14. Life Below Water, 15. Life on Land, 16. Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions and 17. Partnerships For The Goals. AKA, good common sense.

While we knew there was a bit of a mountain to climb to redress the damage from 200 years of heavy industry, the overmining of fossil fuels, intensive farming and so on, in the 2010s we were all facing broadly in the same direction. 2020-22 has been a challenging time around the world. The global pandemic has been a tragedy for so many, and for the world a wake-up call to invest more in our health, wellbeing, and the societies we live in.

RICH GET RICHER

According to the Oxfam report, Inequality Kills, while millions lost their livelihoods (the incomes of 99% of all people around the world fell, with 160m people sinking into poverty), Covid-19 made the uber-rich even richer. During the pandemic the world’s ten richest men doubled their fortunes from over $700bn to $1.5 trillion – at a rate of $15,000 per second. In addition, a new billionaire was “minted every 26 hours, as inequality contributes to the death of one person every four seconds”. The report makes sobering reading, especially alongside the UN’s WIP report on 2021.

GLOBAL CONFLICT

In this, the focus is on a rise in global conflict – we are today witnessing the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945 – and two billion people are living in conflict-affected countries right now. Naturally this forces displacement, pressure on all services and a growth in need (in our globalised economy, for instance, Russia and Ukraine produce 30% of the world’s wheat and sunflower oil). While this affects us all, the highest importers are some of the poorest countries. As prices rise and Russia plays global games with fossil fuels, focus naturally turns to survival – at times and in situations like this, not only is there less drive for change (and people are exhausted by the last three years) but also less investment in it. And if we carry on as we are, CO2 emissions are forecast to rise by about 14% in a decade, when all our targets are to halve them by 2030.

WHERE THERE’S HOPE

To return to the IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson there is hope.

“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level, from local to global. Through ‘transformative change’ nature can still be conserved, restored, and used sustainably.”

He continues,

“The member states of the IPBES Plenary have now acknowledged that, by its very nature, transformative change can expect opposition from those with interests vested in the status quo, but also that such opposition can be overcome for the broader public good.”

So, get your activist hats on people, and prepare for a tussle.

OCEAN BLUES

While we’re all concerned about the land it can be easy to forget that of course 70% of our planet is under water, and #WorldOceanDay on 8th June exists to speak for our seas, everywhere. Also celebrating its anniversary (conceived at the Rio Summit in 1992, with a first global action day a decade later in 2002) World Ocean Day is about coming together to ‘protect and restore our shared ocean and climate’, with the 2022 objective to:

‘protect at least 30% of our lands, waters, and ocean by 2030 (30x30)’

In a way the remit is simpler than that for #WorldEnvironmentDay. While ocean is significantly larger than land, threats to the sea, while extremely serious, come from a less diverse set of sources. In addition, for the globe’s ever-growing number of city dwellers issues affecting land can feel more distant. But the siren song of the sea is nostalgic, powerful and primal. It feels hard to imagine who on earth would threaten the oceans and its ecosystems. Who would want to pollute the blue planet?

Obviously, none of us, yet our lifestyle choices are doing just that. According to convservation.org, the real threat to oceans is far more than the occasional headline making (and very damaging) oil spill. They’ve identified 11 key challenges to sea survival with four high (or low?) lights:

PLASTIC UNFANTASTIC

We dump eight million metric tons of plastic into the oceans every year (and by 2050, if this doesn’t stop, plastic will outweigh fish). Microplastics have found their way via fishing into the food chain, and to be honest, we still don’t really know the full implications of that – but it’s worth noting, 80% of plastic comes from just 20 developed countries.

FASHION CHOKES

Our fast-fashion habit is a natural disaster. Not only do the manufacturing processes pollute but also, every time we wash our clothes, synthetic microfibres (more than 700,000 types exist) flood our waterways and end up creating 85% of beach trash.

INTENSIVE FARMING KILLS

Agricultural nutrients leach into oceans and overstimulate algae growth, which sucks oxygen from surrounding waters and creates dead zones. The clue’s in the name, and these are growing fast.

NOISE POLLUTES

We all know the damage caused by commercial overfishing and trawling the ocean floor, but the noise from shipping creates additional problems – causing cellular damage to invertebrates including jellyfish and anemones which are vital food sources for bigger fish, whales and many sea creatures. 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Right now, the focus of #WorldOceanDay is to sign their petition and write to world leaders ahead of September’s United Nations Biodiversity Summit (COP-15). Check out their website*14 and their resources, and hold tight for July when we’ll be turning our sights on oceans and waterways in a bit more detail, ahead of the COP.