Climate change: time to act

12 January 2010

At the time of writing, the Copenhagen summit on climate change was just coming to a rather chaotic close. Perhaps it’s not surprising: trying to get 119 world leaders, from rich and poor countries alike, to agree policy on such a huge issue was surely over-ambitious. By the time the leaders left, they had the bare bones of a draft text, but this was not the operational agreement that was promised from this summit.

Producing consumer goods requires energy and, in many cases, water. Our natural resources are becoming more scarce, and even those who are sceptical of the effects of carbon emissions on the world’s climate must recognise that we need to use these precious resources wisely.

Our feature on CSR in this issue looks more deeply into initiatives such as the global water disclosure project, which aims to capture data on water usage along the supply chain. Will it reveal a high level of wastage? Almost certainly. Companies that waste water – or energy – are literally throwing money down the drain.

It seems that there is plenty of financial help for those serious about cutting carbon emissions. And with retailers putting pressure on suppliers of goods to reduce packaging, and demonstrate their green credentials, it would seem to make sense to pursue these loans and grants.

However, it is not just the big gestures that count. Did you know that the energy used to power IT is responsible for 2% of the global CO2 emissions? (Source – UK Environment Agency). Just switching off PC monitors can make a difference.

Even if the Copenhagen summit fails to deliver what it promised, at least countries such as China and the USA are talking to each other, with a will to reduce CO2 emissions. A lot of it is still hot air and posturing, but we have to do our bit. We need to stay focused on making packaging processes more efficient, and reduce our use of materials, especially those that cannot be recycled or are not biodegradable.

Maureen Byrne,

Editor


Maureen Byrne Maureen Byrne



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