Making Green Moves
Making Green Moves
What the Numbers Say
1.5 degrees C
The limit to global temperature rise, which is the threshold scientists say is necessary for avoiding the most dangerous climate impacts.
US$100 billion
Amount committed by G20 countries to climate finance per year by 2020, in addition to setting ambitious emissions-reduction targets for themselves.
US$649 billion
The record-breaking amount of ESG-focused funds worldwide in 2021, which now account for 10% of worldwide fund assets.
Big Questions
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“What are the driving forces behind greenwashing?”
Cambridge Dictionary defines greenwashing as “behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”
Associate Professor of Finance Liang Hao says three factors influence asset managers to greenwash: 1) Increasing interest for responsible investments by investors which means they can use this opportunity to engage in greenwashing, 2) High demand for Economic, Social and Governance (ESG) investing among asset users and managers and 3) Current ESG ratings mostly evaluate public equity. Rating frameworks vary which may confuse investors.
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“What is the monetary value of having clean air?”
The value of nature providing clean air is very high. Assistant Professor Simon Schillebeeckx thinks we should convert the value of clean air into a price so we can make it part of the economy. He says, "We all like to breathe clean air, but nobody's paying for clean air. It's a free resource that is given to us by nature and the more carbon we put in the atmosphere, the more we pollute, through different kinds of industrial processes, the more we undermine the ability of us to breathe."
But there is a challenge of putting an economic price on natural resources, natural capital and social value. For example, a mangrove forest provides storm protection as well as biodiversity and carbon sequestration benefits, but we overlook those factors because of the difficulty in quantifying the value they provide. This is why many socio-ecological challenges that are difficult to measure remain in the dark, while the true cost of unsustainability remains obscure.
Quotable
“The problem is that a lot of the people who can contribute to solutions only see within their own part of the subsystem.”
“The problem is that a lot of the people who can contribute to solutions only see within their own part of the subsystem.”
Winston Chow
Associate Professor of Urban Climate
“Will you leave the world slightly better than you found it? In other words, are you a steward leader?”
“Will you leave the world slightly better than you found it? In other words, are you a steward leader?”
Arnoud De Meyer
Professor Emeritus of Operations Management
Tomorrow, Today
Over to You
Here’s what societies can do to attain the goal of net-zero emissions.
Make it quantifiable
Governments need clear, quantifiable and ambitious science-based plans to cap and reduce emissions to net-zero as soon as possible.
Eliminate apathy
Learning about the subject, such as engaging with the IPCC reports and talking with others knowledgeable about climate change, is a good start towards living a more sustainable lifestyle that reduces an individual's carbon footprint.
Act fast
Businesses must act urgently through reducing their climate risk to their assets and account for net-zero emissions in their operations. Corporations across different sectors should focus on decarbonisation and actively setting 2050 net-zero targets through some combination of developing and applying emission-reduction technologies, or by investing in low-carbon operational practices.