Climate change requires self-sustainable human practices that guarantee the stability of the planet in the present and the future. The task is for everyone: both society and business have a responsibility to contribute to sustainable development through the products and services they offer, which impact the environment. The terms global warming and climate change are often used without differentiation; however, the former refers to the worldwide increase in surface temperatures due to human activity, while the latter encompasses both global warming and its effects on the climate.
What can be highlighted from this? First of all, current climate change is primarily anthropogenic (generated by human activity). It is linked to the intensification of the greenhouse effect due to industrial emissions (gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides) from the burning of fossil fuels. While it is true that the gases are essential to maintain the planet’s temperature, since, without them, the average temperature of the earth’s surface would be around -18 °C, the harsh truth is that human activity has produced more than it should to the point of upsetting the natural balance.
Secondly, it is essential to note that climate change and its associated impacts will not occur uniformly, i.e., they will be different in each region worldwide. The consequences will be an increase in temperature, a rise in sea level, a change in precipitation patterns, and expansion of subtropical deserts, and the continued retreat of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. Heatwaves, droughts, torrential rains, more frequent and intense hurricanes, heavy snowfall, ocean acidification, and species extinction are also very likely.
However, many people may not see the magnitude of the problem until it knocks on their doors. In that sense, it is worth noting that climate change poses a real threat to food security through reduced crop yields and loss of habitat due to flooding.
It is no secret that this problem concerns everyone without distinction, and it is necessary to generate effective solutions. This is why an alternative that is being proposed in several countries is to support and strengthen climate justice to address the practices that accentuate global warming.
The efforts of the legal world through environmental and climate justice should be aimed at minimizing greenhouse gases, promoting the use of renewable energies, encouraging the use of electric cars, and putting an end once and for all to deforestation through laws. These actions are few and far between today, but they must be encouraged to guarantee citizens the right to live fully in a healthy environment.
Commenting on the issue, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said, “the world must adopt a war-fighting mentality to meet the challenge of climate change” and urged development banks to step up their green finance efforts. “We should now be making solar panels at the same pace and helping to deploy them, and the multilateral development banks need to help grease the wheels so that this kind of investment can work,” Kerry said, referring to the pace at which the U.S. was working for war purposes during World War II.
It is vital to raise awareness and reflect on the fact that as global temperatures rise, the climate hinders human dynamics, exacerbating conflicts and even provoking migration, as has happened in Bangladesh (devastated by floods) or countries in Africa and Central America disrupted by droughts, whose residents have been forced to migrate.
According to Andrea Duffy, director of International Studies at Colorado State University, “the negative effects of climate change fall disproportionately on poor and marginalized people, who are less able to respond and adapt…Environmental challenges tend to hit hardest when combined with social movements, and climate change has the potential to drive migration and resettlement, spur violence, and dramatically transform human societies around the world”.
In this order of ideas, the fight to curb climate change must be undertaken with concrete actions. The good thing is that from wherever you are, everyone can contribute with small solutions that add up, ranging from turning off lights when they are not needed, changing old bulbs for LED or energy-saving bulbs, unplugging electronic devices when they are not in use, reducing waste, recycling, reducing the time spent in the shower, minimizing meat consumption (since livestock farming is associated with high methane emissions), buying local and seasonal products (they are more environmentally friendly), avoiding plastic bags and prioritizing the use of bicycles instead of driving.
IC Corporation proposes to take advantage of the energy coming from the sun and convert it into electricity with the installation of solar panels and electronic components that control the generation of energy.
Investing in self-sustaining practices is much cheaper than responding to a natural disaster. The UN estimates that the annual cost of natural disasters is between $250 billion and $300 billion. So the call is to work together: government entities, civil society, and private companies must assume the role of empowered, creative protagonists capable of innovating practices and products that provide real solutions to the great challenge of climate change.
At IC Corporation, the risks and opportunities of responding to climate and environmental challenges have been weighed against each other. For this reason, from the very beginning, sustainability has been incorporated among its values, a variable present in every line of action and every strategy carried out by the company.
Without hesitation, the great goal pursued by the public and private sectors must be to remove the obstacles to social and environmental progress. Together we can establish markets and create more sustainable societies.
IC INTERNATIONAL GROUP
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