Sustainability | GHG | Net Zero

Sustainability is the term which is now been heard in multiple platform right from the United Nations to corporate board rooms with target defined at organization and at countries levels to assure that we retain life in the only planet known to humans till date. Majority of the data shows that we have already surpassed the point of no return, but still if we take substantial steps, we can still try to reduce the impact or delay the catastrophe (sorry for sounding negative here, but then that's the reality)

Below quote sum up that the steps towards sustainability can't be taken in silos, but it has to be a joint efforts globally including international bodies, governments, various agencies, corporates and most importantly we as individuals as well.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it” – Robert Swan

I recently completed a though provoking training on sustainability in my organization and also have attended a session hosted by NASSCOM, so thought to share some nuggets with all which I have learned on this topic. As many of us may not be aware of some of the key terms and most importantly on how our small steps can help in taking big leap in attaining the targets, which primarily are Carbon Neutral, Net Zero.

195 countries have signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 setting the target to limit the global warming to well below 2 degrees and pursue efforts to further limit it to 1.5 degrees. ALong with this we also had 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) with one of the main goal to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach. Both of these have provided guidance and steps at country level to achieve the goals in collaborative manner, where all countries share their resources in terms of efforts, financials and other aspects to attain the common goal for one earth. Fingers crossed that we all collectively are able to achieve this - I am not worried about my generation in terms of their existence but the future generations. We need to think individually what are we gifting to our coming generations in terms of environment and climate where they will either thrive or perish.

Figure: The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), implemented by all the world's countries in 2016.

Nature has built the balance between emissions of Green House Gases and it's removal from the environment which is key to maintain the temperature on our planet. This balance helps in trapping the heat from sun at such levels that life thrives here, which is going on for million of years. Any disbalance in the emissions and removals will directly impact the temperature on earth, which is now increasing alarmingly, stating that balance is been disturbed. Major reasons are pollution from vehicles, industries and other factors due to which we are emitting more but removing less. (Removing you can think as absorption by plants, just think now what we are doing, we are increasing pollution and cutting trees, double whamy) - ever imagine how nature has maintained the balance for years but our human activities have disturbed and we humans only have to correct it by reducing the GHG emissions and making planet more green.

"Cost of saving life on this planet (still) is much lesser than planning to move to other planet"

You may think what is big deal we are talking about not letting average global temperature raise by 2 degrees, it's just 2 degrees right, it will not make much of difference as this is small number. But then just think, this is just average and if we look at places which are already very hot and there we are talking about temperature increasing by 10%-20%, if average increases by 2 degrees, which is nothing but alarming for population living there, if we don't stop here, this 2 degrees will very easily jump to 5, but by then no one will be alive to measure it and take steps. That is why it is said this is our last hope to take steps.

Now let's understand few key terms circling around sustainability:

• GHG: A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and ozone (O3). Without greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C (0 °F), rather than the present average of 15 °C (59 °F)
• Sustainability Development: Taking environmental, economic and social aspects into account is the essence of sustainable development. It is about meeting the need of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Carbon Footprint: Measure of greenhouse gases emitted due to the direct or indirect activities of that entity (individual, families, organizations, governments etc)
• Carbon Neutral: Condition in which during the specified period there has been no net increase in the global emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as a result of the greenhouse gas emissions with the subject during the same period. In simple terms we are not increasing our carbon footprint with the growth of entity.
• Net Zero: A state in which an organization or country's value chain results in no net accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and no net impact from other green house gas emissions. So, in short we are leaving all to nature to maintain the balance without any additional pressure from our side.

Carbon Neutral is the first step towards Net Zero, we can't achieve Net Zero without being Carbon Neutral. That is why if you see the targets defined by organizations or countries first they are targeting being Carbon Neutral and then Net Zero.

Thanks for your time in reading this article. In my next article I will try to gather some details and information on how the organizations and countries are taking steps to achieve these targets and what are the key challenges to achieve these and how they are collaborating to find solutions to those challenges.

As always I am expecting inputs from my readers specially ones who are driving these efforts to add more points to this article in comment section, so that we all learn and understand on this topic and of course do correct me in case I have inadvertently mentioned something wrongly here in the article.