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<\/p>\n2018 was quite an eventful year for those of us immersed in the sustainability discourse. From a corporates to an\u00a0individual level, a majority of us worked towards righting the wrong metrics of our investments and lifestyles.\u00a0\u00a0Climate change risk became material to investors and mitigation and adaptation became a key policy issue across the globe a at state and an international policy levels.\u00a0\u00a0Weather devastation took a toll on us; from South Africa\u00a0being at risk of \u201cDay Zero\u201d \u2013 running out of\u00a0water to ravaging typhoons in Asia and Hurricanes in\u00a0America and closer home- floods turning roads temporary to rivers in Kenya.<\/p>\n
The fate of the Planet- 12 Years Left\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The alarming message by IPCC that we have 12 years left to avoid the\u00a0potentiallydevastating and irreversible impact of climate\u00a0change wasa \u201cwake up\u201d call for\u00a0action tolimit warming to 1.5\u00baC\u00a0 The report cautions irreversible damage on the planet if global warming is not limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre industrial levels by 2040, inundating coastlines and intensifying droughts and poverty. The estimated $54 trillion in damage from 2.7 degrees of warming would grow to $69 trillion if the world continues to warm by 3.6 degrees and beyond\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
The report caution that failure to keep temperature increases below 2\u00b0C would increase the risks to human well-being, ecosystems and ultimately sustainable development. Some of the\u00a0eco systems that\u00a0support the millions of people are dying. Declining insect population, and dying of coral and kelp forest and the\u00a0threat of extinction of some mammals like the white rhino are some of the 2018\u00a0trends that we had to deal with.<\/p>\n
The Ocean Dilemma – More Plastics than Fish in the Sea<\/b><\/p>\n
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A McKinsey report in 2015 identified a worrisome trend in plastic waste where a majority (60%) of the\u00a0approximately 8 million tonsof plastic waste leaking into the world emerge from\u00a0handful Asian countries-\u00a0China; Indonesia; the Philippines; Thailand; and Vietnam.\u00a0UNEP<\/a>estimates the negative externality of plastic production at USD 40 billion annually \u2014equivalent to the GDP of Tunisia and as per the\u00a0International Monetary Fund<\/a>\u00a0(2017) – exceeding the plastic packaging industry\u2019s profit pool. Ellen MacArthur Foundation cautions;<\/p>\n \u201cIn a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish [by weight].\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Not all is gloomy, as iconic multinationals in the food sector that have been identified as a contributor to plastic menace have\u00a0launched ambitious initiatives\u00a0to right their plastic wrongdoings.\u00a0\u00a0McDonalds and Coca-Cola have committed to\u00a0100 percent recyclable and certified packaging materials by 2015 and 2030 respectively. The interventions are in response to increased global concern over the prevalence of plastic waste.<\/p>\n Oil Companies\u00a0Acknowledge Climate Change Impact on their Portfolio<\/strong><\/p>\n Oil Companies remain multinationals with the highest global footprint. Consequently, they arguably yields the largest environmental footprint. For decades, the oil companies have reaped profits year after year while simultaneously contributing to global warming. Nevertheless, the turnaround in the oil sector is stunning and the companies are realizing that even the fossil fuel sector is not immune to climate change. The oil companies admit suffering fromeffects of climate change forces. Oil giantChevron Corporation<\/a>,\u00a0the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf of Mexico, lost $1.4 billion because of reduced production and added costs for repairs and maintenance for both offshore and onshore facilities\u00a0\u00a0as a consequence of hurricanes\u00a0\u00a0Katrina and Rita.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johannaomolofoundation.org\/Africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/orsted_0.png\")
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