It’s well known that fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change. A dirty secret is that they’re also the source of toxic chemicals linked to rising rates of chronic and deadly diseases.
Source: Inside Climate News
March 19, 2024
By measuring your greenhouse gas emissions and by reducing them accordingly you can be the change you want to see as of today
The planet has entered a state of emergency with unprecedented risk of damage to humanity and the environment. Global warming and the collapse of biodiversity are having fatal consequences on an exponential scale. Urgent action is needed at all levels – everywhere and now – to confront the threat.
To achieve the goal of zero net emissions by 2050, GHG emissions must already be reduced by 50% by 2030. As with a balanced budget in the long term, it is essential to take immediate, concrete and continuous reduction measures, otherwise the target can never be achieved by the set deadline. Let’s start.
Imagine a world where climate action for zero emissions is the natural course of action for everyone, entity or individual. 2050Today is about measuring our greenhouse gas emissions and reducing them accordingly to bring about the change we want today.
United by this vision, over 60 institutions in international Geneva have decided to take action to confront the challenge of climate change by implementing 2050Today. Permanent Missions, international organisations, academia and civil society entities have committed to measure and reduce their emissions while confirming their willingness to cooperate together for effective, inclusive and sustainable climate action. To advance further and establish a common frame of reference with principles, defined objectives and specific actions, the participating institutions have signed the 2050Today Charter aimed at decarbonising international Geneva together.
Joining or supporting 2050Today means participating in a coalition of entities resolutely committed to reducing emissions and concerned about acting in accordance with a sustainable planet for future generations.
It’s well known that fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change. A dirty secret is that they’re also the source of toxic chemicals linked to rising rates of chronic and deadly diseases.
Source: Inside Climate News
March 19, 2024
Almost 90% of the world’s forest loss is driven by the expansion of agriculture, thanks to growing consumer demand for commodities like coffee, cocoa, beef, soy, palm oil and timber. Because of this, governments, businesses and NGOs are increasingly targeting action to reduce deforestation in this sector. Several markets are developing policies that prohibit the sale or importation of products grown on deforested land, while hundreds of consumer goods companies have made zero-deforestation pledges.
Some of these regulations are still in the early stages of development or implementation so their potential positive impact remains to be seen, but existing measures have so far failed to stem the tide of deforestation. One of the major reasons is the persistent lack of traceability and transparency in supply chains.
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Source: World Resources Institute
March 8, 2024
We can get a global glimpse of how migratory species are faring, in the first-ever stocktake produced by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species. The report shows falling populations in close to half (44%) the 1,189 species tracked by the convention. The problem is much worse underwater – 90% of migratory fish species are threatened with extinction.
Their decline is not inevitable. After all, the migratory humpback whale was headed for rapid extinction – until we stopped whaling.
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Source: The Conversation
February 19, 2024
Demand for critical minerals is booming. Global efforts to fight climate change are driving up the need for lithium, cobalt, graphite and other such minerals essential for building electric vehicles, solar panels and other clean technologies. This compounds existing demand from the tech sector, where critical minerals are used in smartphones, laptops and other consumer electronics.
There’s no question the world will have to mine more of these minerals, and quickly, as the clean energy transition ramps up. But doing so also comes with risks — including the potential to sap water supplies.
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Source: World Resources Institute
February 10, 2024
Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing.
Source: Inside Climate News
February 1, 2024
Since mid 2023 the Amazon River Basin has been in a state of exceptional drought, driven by low rainfall and consistently high temperatures for the entire year 2023 across the basin. According to this study made by scientists from Brazil, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, the strong drying trend was almost entirely due to increased global temperatures, so the severity of the drought currently being experienced is largely driven by climate change.
Source: World Weather Attribution
January 26, 2024
To keep global warming below 1.5°, we must at all costs avoid depleting our carbon budget. All organisations must therefore reduce their emissions as much as possible – and as soon as possible – in order to comply with the IPCC special report’s warning to limit global warming to 1.5°C. At current emissions levels, this budget will be exhausted within a few years and well before 2030. Every moment is counting and the countdown is not stopping. So the time to act is today.
The MCC Carbon Clock shows how much CO2 can be released into the atmosphere to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C and 2°C, respectively. Once the remaining time has elapsed these thresholds will be exceeded. With just a few clicks, you can compare the estimates for both temperature targets and see how much time is left in each scenario.
It’s a fact that the climate is warming because of human activity. Everything we consume, use and then throw away requires materials and energy. Whether it’s during the production, use or end-of-life phase of the good or service. In effect, all our activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Some enormously, others very little.
The world total carbon footprint in 2022 due to human emissions from fossil fuels and industry excluding land-use change was around 37 gigatons of CO2 eq. These huge emissions are the accumulation of many and many … billions of big and small emissions that are the result of life styles and consumption.
The carbon footprint is only one part of the impact of human beings on planet Earth. To get a glimpse of our global impact, take a look at the graphic below.
We should also keep in mind how quickly our impact has grown. The Earth, our only available habitat, appeared some 4.5 billion years ago. The ancestors of human beings first appeared less than 10 million years ago.
In other words, if you were to compress the entire history of the Earth into 24 hours, the first Homo sapiens would only arrive in the last few seconds and the advent of agriculture would only be a blink of an eye before midnight.
To have a closer look, follow Living in the Age of Humans, a series of stories that examine the impacts of human presence on Earth.
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The perimeter of 2050Today inventory is set to the purchase of grid electricity (in kWh) directly by the institution or through the entity managing the facility. If electricity is produced (through solar photovoltaic panels for instance) and consumed on-site, it is also considered in the inventory. All emissions from grid electricity purchased & consumed by the institution belong to Scope 2. Among the on-site produced & consumed electricity, emissions from combined heat & power installation, oil and natural gas belong to Scope 1.
According to the GHG Protocol, if an institution can be provided with product-specific data in the form of guarantees of origin, certificates, contracts, or other contractual instruments, it will report two scope 2 totals for the overall GHG inventory: one market-based, and one location-based. To be as accurate as possible the physical reality of GHG emissions, 2050Today reports location-based emissions.
The location-based method is calculated using Horocarbon UNIGE assessment tool to measure the grid average emission factor for Geneva.
We have further categorized the electricity purchased from the grid based on its source. For the electricity purchased from SIG, it includes different types of products such as Electricité Vitale Bleu or Electricité Vitale Soleil. There may also be a portion of electricity sourced from coal, oil, solar, or wind power. In this inventory, institutions can fill in the corresponding table with data based on the generation source of the electricity they have purchased.
2050Today’s carbon footprint methodology considers only the location-based method, or in other words grid electricity emissions. Product-specific data can be provided through the data entry form for information purposes and referenced accordingly but not considered in GHG calculations.
For this category, the amount of the energy source consumed to heat and/or cool the institution’s building area are included (e.g., liters of heating oil, m3 of natural gas, kWh of electricity). If the institution is benefiting from GeniLac, it can indicate the total quantity of water that was used by the system during the year.
If one institution purchases heating or cooling services from district heating or SIG product, this portion of emissions would belong to Scope 2. If one institution generates heating or cooling on site from energy sources like natural gas or oil, this portion of emissions would belong to Scope 1. We also categorized the heating & cooling based on its source, so that institutions can fill in the corresponding table with data based on the generation source.
The cooling perimeter also includes the use of refrigerants for air conditioning. If the refrigerants which belong to GHG are leaked or released into the atmosphere directly, this portion of emission belongs to Scope 1. If we consider the value chain of production of refrigerants, it belongs to Scope 3.
The perimeter of the 2050Today inventory is set to water consumption by the institution. The method requires the collection of data on water in m3 or in liters. Emissions from water consumption belong to Scope 3.
The Mobility sector is separated into two categories based on the ownership of the vehicles. Emissions from transportation in vehicles owned or leased by the institution are accounted either in Scope 1 (for fuel use) or Scope 2 (for electricity use), while emissions from transportation in vehicles not controlled by the institution (e.g., employees business travel & employee commuting) are part of Scope 3 GHG emissions The institution should be particularly careful if it owns electric vehicles as to avoid double counting of GHG emissions (electricity consumption of electric vehicles could be already included in building electricity consumption).
Data on employees commuting trips is collected through an online flash questionnaire that is sent directly to institutions’ employees. The data in this section is part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, Category 7 (Employee Commuting). This anonymous data is processed directly by 2050Today and will be reported in the calculation of the institutions’ global carbon footprint.
A summary of the vehicle fleet is demanded, and the method requires the collection of data on distances travelled (km) or on fuel usage (kWh of electricity or liters of petrol, diesel, natural gas or biofuel) per vehicle type.
Employee business travels and employee commuting trips data are collected for reporting. The data in this section is part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, Category 6 (Business Travel). Data on terrestrial mobility, similarly to institution owned vehicles data, is collected for distances travelled (km) or for fuel usage (kWh of electricity or liters of petrol, diesel, natural gas or biofuel) per vehicle type. For aerial mobility, the method requires the institution to share information on distances travelled (cumulated km) and/or associated GHG emissions (tCO2-eq.). The share of compensated flights can also be inserted into the form.
For flights, 2050Today uses the Mobitool version 3.0 factors to estimate GHG emissions. The calculation is based on the Atmosfair method which includes the ICAO references and method. In addition to the pure CO2 emissions there are also non-CO2 emissions for flights, which are also recorded, calculated and reported with their climate impact in the Atmosfair method. It uses state of the art of climate science according to IPCC and peer reviewed literature.
The number of nights employees stayed at a hotel in the context of a business trip are included in the Mobility perimeter. This portion of emissions belong to Scope 3.
This sector includes indicators on the consumption of food and drink items offered by the institution. It includes food and drinks provided at the institution’s cafeteria and/or during in-house events. These indicators are also part of Scope 3 emissions, Category 1 with a “cradle to gate” boundary. Individual food consumption by employees during working hours is also measured.
In this sector, 2050today also use the Average-data method.
The parameter of this sector is set to a list of new office equipment, new mobility equipment (vehicles) and construction materials. Listed indicators are part of Scope 3 GHG emissions, category 1 (Purchased goods and services) with a “cradle to gate” or “upstream” boundary (extraction, production and transportation of goods purchased or acquired by the reporting institution during the year).
To calculate emissions from purchased goods and services, 2050today use the Average-data method, which means estimating emissions for goods and services by collecting data on the mass (e.g., kilograms or pounds), or other relevant units of goods or services purchased and multiplying by the relevant secondary (e.g., industry average) emission factors (e.g., average emissions per unit of good or service).
The perimeter of the 2050Today waste inventory is set to waste production from facilities and internal operations of the institution during the reported year. Only waste treatment in facilities owned or operated by third parties is included in scope 3. The method requires the collection of data on waste quantities by waste type (e.g., Paper, PET, Metal, Biodegradable) and by type of treatment and disposal (Recycled/re-used and not recycled). The waste inventory is part of Scope 3 emissions, Category 5 (Waste generated in operations). Treatment of waste generated in operations is categorized as an upstream scope 3 category because waste management services are purchased by the reporting institution.