In 2019, The European Commission announced a Green Deal — a plan to be the first carbon neutral continent that accelerates climate action while creating jobs and facilitating an environment for Sustainable Development. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called the plan “Europe’s man on the moon moment”. The plan requires widespread changes across nearly every element of the economy, from restoring forests and enhancing transport to promoting renewable energy and revitalising farming.

The deal continues to evolve with new industry-specific plans and short-term strategies regularly presented. In 2020 alone, a proposal to cut GHG emissions…

“I declare we will aim to realise a decarbonised society.” Just one month after China’s surprise long-term decarbonisation announcement, these were the words of Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga. The Asian powerhouse, and fifth-largest GHG emitter in 2018, previously committed to a 26% reduction in emissions by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Unsurprisingly, it received heavy international criticism for being woefully insufficient and failing to lead by example. …

In September, China’s President Xi Jinping made a surprise announcement during a video conference with the UN General Assembly stating that China is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060. While this target remains a decade behind most countries’ ambitions, it is an enormous, and unexpected, step for the world’s largest polluter. China is responsible for around 28 percent of global emissions (10 GT total), driven by the biggest manufacturing industry and the largest population in the world.

This built upon China’s previous commitment to peaking emissions by 2030 by adding a long-term target. However, it is vital that climate action…

Sunk costs often stop people from thinking logically. Investing significant time and money into something creates a tendency to continue to pursue it rather than cutting losses, even when that is the responsible decision to make. While sustainable investing is very much in the spotlight with investors wanting to integrate ESG considerations into their decision-making, strong returns remain the bottom line. Typically, investors care more about how much is made rather than how it’s made — ignorance is often bliss.

According to the University of Oxford, where they have a specific stranded assets programme, stranded assets are defined as “assets…

This article was originally published here on Ingena Insight’s website

Indigenous communities are on the front lines of climate change and environmental degradation. While only making up 5% of the population, their lands account for 22% of the world’s surface and 80% of the world’s biodiversity. The values, traditions and culture of indigenous groups portray a symbiotic relationship with the earth, with their roles as hunters, fishermen, herders and farmers all reliant upon a healthy environment and natural ecosystems.

This intimate relationship has seen the expert management of resources for millennia, ensuring that precious biodiversity is not overexploited. This is…

This week, the Scottish brewing company Brewdog announced it had become carbon negative — meaning that it removes more carbon into the atmosphere than it emits — the first brewery with that accolade.

This isn’t the first time Brewdog has stood out. For the last decade, they have run regular rounds of investing, allowing beer drinkers to buy shares in the business via their ‘equity for punks’ model. While it may seem like a nice idea rather than a practical fundraising exercise, they’ve raised over $95 million in 8 rounds. …

Healthy oceans are essential for the planet. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), oceans add $2.5 trillion to the global economy every year, feeding 3 billion people and providing livelihoods for millions. Oceans also absorb around 25% of all CO2 emissions while providing us with half of the world’s oxygen. Ocean pollution of any kind creates far more concerns than simply being unsightly.

For one, it can be fatal for marine life that gets stuck in plastic or ingest it. Currently, there is an increasing focus on the impacts of ocean pollution on human health. It is thought that…

The revolt against plastics had, perhaps, been the area of most progress on climate change and environmental destruction so far. Single-use plastics had become the poster child for behaviour change in recent years as the public learned more about their harmful impact. The visceral images of bottles littering pristine beaches and bright blue seas or straws getting stuck in marine animals led, in part, to progressive policies that banned or increased the cost of single-use plastics. Then COVID-19 happened.

As people, businesses and hospitals scrambled to limit the spread of the virus, enormous volumes of plastics were purchased. Masks to…