Ever been surrounded by group of people discussing current affairs, the latest trends, pressing issues of National importance...and you have nothing to say! You scroll through the corners of your brain looking for something intelligible to say, a jaw-dropping statistic, anything that makes you feel part of the conversation, but all you can come up with is something about Prince Harry and Meghan, or donuts. We hear you and that’s why we’re releasing a series of short guides to give you ammunition to dominate (or at least keep-up with) the dinner party conversation...drop the mic and reach for the dip...
Why is everyone worked up about Climate Change?
3 min read
At the core of it, what is Climate Change?
It’s ok not to know exactly what climate change means even though it’s a term that’s bandied about ALL the time and evolved from that equally confusing term “The Greenhouse Effect”. Essentially changes to climate have been observed across air and ocean temperatures, sea levels rising, long-term sustained widespread reduction of snow and ice cover, and changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation and regional weather patterns, which influence seasonal rainfall conditions.1
Why do people care about it?
There are generally two camps in the Climate Change Debate
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those that fundamentally believe it is a scientifically proven phenomenon, whereby human-impact has created significant and often irreversible changes to the planet’s ecosystem; and
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those that do not believe or doubt scientific evidence that environmental changes to the planet are connected to man-made impacts.
Then there is every opinion and belief in-between.
Target Practice
Key to the Finkel Report was a recommendation for a clean energy target, whereby, it founded that electricity in Australia should be sourced from fuels that produced no greater than 700 kilograms of carbon per megawatt - driving greater focus on a balanced system which targeted carbon abatement via renewables such as solar, wind and thermal energy but also allowed for inclusion of “clean coal” and gas.
Avoidance is better than recovery...
Whilst technologies and solutions do exist to turn single-use soft plastics into a valuable secondary material, the focus is more about avoiding the creation and use of these pesky plastics in the first place.
What’s being done about it?
Alot, but there remains so much to do. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, for example, is made up of nearly 30 companies worldwide that have committed more than $1 Billion, with the goal of investing $1.5 billion over the next 5 years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
To learn more about what Veolia is doing in this space, follow us on LinkedIn and stay across our exciting projects and initiatives in this space!
1. http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science-data/climate-science/understanding-climate-change