The extreme heat we are all experiencing today leads many to think of climate change — a term very often bandied about but not completely understood.
Yes, climate change is often blamed as the culprit for wildfires, severe rainfall and melting ice caps that cause our oceans to rise. When we have floods or receding shores, it’s much easier to point the finger. But what is this “change” that disrupts nature and affects us all? To get to the root of this matter, let’s go back to basics.
Carbon, to generations before Gen X, meant the black paper used to make duplicate documents through typewriters and other printing machines. The advent of photocopying practically rendered it obsolete and, in today’s world, carbon is actually considered a “dirty word.” But is it really?
Let’s attempt to understand the lingo better.
ABCs of emissions
Carbon is a crucial element for all life on Earth. It is the basic building block of life and helps form the bodies of living organisms. Its compounds (carbon bonding with other elements) form solids, liquids and gases. Carbon is in the very food we eat, in what we exhale, in what we use to fuel our economy through fossil fuels.
Like the title of that 80s pop song, “every breath you take” produces carbon and, in essence, carbon emissions — particularly, from human activities — are the primary cause of climate change. These human activities involve everyday routines like charging your mobile phone, using appliances and driving a car, which leaves a trail of gases in your wake.
Vast amounts of information will tell you that when carbon is released into the atmosphere, it builds up and traps heat from the sun like a greenhouse. That’s why carbon is called a greenhouse gas.
A carbon footprint, meanwhile, is the sum of all byproducts that come from manufacturing and moving goods, energizing and building structures for homes and businesses, providing food, and travel.
These emissions have a significant impact on our planet, leading to increased temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and disruptions to the environment.
So, carbon, in itself, is not “bad” — it’s the amount of atmospheric carbon emissions that causes us some problems.
Low-carbon economy
Businesses are also a contributor to carbon emissions and understanding emission scopes is essential to help companies manage or reduce their numbers. These are:
Burn — emissions coming from the company’s owned physical assets;
Buy — emissions coming from the generation of electricity, heat, or steam that a company purchases; and
Beyond — an emissions catch-all; contributors beyond a company’s walls both upstream and downstream, including emissions from business travel and commuting, and emissions from the use and disposal of any products the company produces.
As such, governments are now talking about the transition to a low-carbon economy. This is essential for limiting the impacts of global temperature rise. The opportunities in using technology and innovation to reduce carbon emissions are greater than many people realize, and governments are moving to develop low-carbon policy frameworks, strengthen sustainable financing, incentivize investments in nature-based solutions and green economies, and align policies across borders.
Many of these things are already happening around the world, at a pace that is relevant and appropriate to the situation and responsibility of each economy. Developed and developing economies have a world of difference in terms of context and, therefore, require different solutions.
The power of synergy
The private sector-led CarbonPH Coalition is meant to create an enabling environment for quality discourse and enriching capabilities for nature-based solutions in the country. Companies voluntarily pitch ideas, sharing experiences and best practices towards an informed discussion on effective and practical development of policy and action plans that industry sectors can follow.
Companies in the CarbonPH Coalition actively engaged and shared insights critical to their industry sectors.
During the recent CarbonPH Education Series on “Philippine Policy and Investment Environment for Nature-Based Solutions,” 23 companies and their representatives listened to the main speaker Secretary Robert Borje of the Climate Change Commission. He highlighted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to employ a “whole of government, whole of society, and whole of world approach” to address climate change.
Sec. Borje also spoke about an investment-led transformative climate action as the pathway for the country, emphasizing that government efforts to contribute to the global decarbonization efforts can only be achieved through synergies between government initiatives and private sector innovations.
According to data gathered from 2011 to 2021, the Philippines took in a whopping P673.30 billion in losses and damages due to climate change. It also shows that losses in our gross domestic product could reach up to 13.6 percent of GDP by 2040. Knowing the climate future predicted for us, the government is doubling its efforts for the Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan and National Adaptation Plan — roadmaps for mitigation and adaptation action that can help guide the private sector in contributing to the collective goals.
At the same forum, Tim Daniels, head of Investor Relations, Sustainability & Communications of SM Investments Corporation, talked about climate change and biodiversity in the country. In today’s business landscape, we find finance executives talking about climate change, which should really be the norm if we want collective solutions to our environmental challenges.
Companies in the CarbonPH Coalition actively engaged and shared insights critical to their industry sectors such as expanding investments in transition and renewable energy technology and how banks can enable social bond investments alongside green bonds.
What we can do
Traditional business roles now require a new understanding of data and integrating solutions for business impacts on the environment and social challenges.
It is important to have an open mind to continuous learning about the world we live in and the social context in which we operate. Pushing ourselves beyond what we think is possible can open a world of possibilities in terms of solutions. This can help us become more effective in contributing to the discussion and thinking of solutions for climate action, environmental protection, and biodiversity.
The environmental problem is too big and systemic to be tackled alone. Our spheres of influence extend to the interactions we have with our own families, friends, employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and communities where we operate. Working in synergy with each other to scale solutions can work for all industries and not just benefit one.
Competition is necessary to increase productivity and up the quality of goods and services in the market for the benefit of consumers. But for a challenge that impacts all, isn’t cooperation much better so we can share in the economy of the future that requires less carbon emissions?