Environment Special: Time to put big global agreements into practice

Achieving international agreements is not easy. Nor is achieving effective environmental progress, despite the fact that the pending tasks are numerous, led by global warming, the conservation of biodiversity and the blockade of plastic.

The United Nations Conference on the Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, announced to the world the impossibility of continuing to exploit natural resources unlimitedly.. “Since then, many treaties, agreements and protocols have been approved. Multiple conferences have also been given and reports issued to protect the environment,” recalls José Ignacio López, professor of the Master in Environmental Management of Organizations at the International University of La Rioja (Unir).

Her colleague Rebeca Sánchez, also a teacher and researcher at this educational institution, highlights among the latest important international agreements the one reached at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi (Kenya), in 2022, in which 175 countries agreed to end with plastic pollution. “The importance of considering the entire life cycle of plastic and seeking measures to minimize the impact of these harmful contaminants on human health and living beings in ecosystems was thus seen,” says Sánchez.

Now, all eyes are focused on Dubai (United Arab Emirates), which will host this year's edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP28.. This event will evaluate the progress made since the Paris Agreement, signed at COP21 with the objective of not exceeding 1.5 degrees of rise in global temperature by the end of the century.

Rocío Dañino, an expert from the consulting firm Factor Global, remembers that at the last COP27, held last year in Egypt, no progress was made on climate objectives.. “But even so,” he clarifies, “the participants committed to strengthening their national contributions to reduce emissions, with timid references to the disappearance of fossil fuels.”

It should be remembered that the EU intends to disengage from these energy sources in 2050 and, although it has already addressed the abandonment of coal, more difficulties are expected for the departure from oil and gas, something that will be addressed at COP28.

HOPES. Cristina Sánchez, CEO of the UN Global Compact in Spain, confesses that they expect greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from Dubai. “If we want to stop climate change we must close the gap between ambition and action. We have launched the Forward Faster 2030 initiative to further energize the private sector,” says Sánchez.

Although on too many occasions it may seem that the environmental debate at the highest level always stagnates, the last COP27 culminated with a relevant agreement to create a compensation fund for losses and damages, known as the Sharm el Sheikh Implementation Plan .

The objective of this initiative is to help the most vulnerable countries with the effects of climate change. “The mechanism is currently in the hands of a working group. In Dubai, predictably, progress will be made on how this fund will be financed and launched,” says Dañino.

BIG CHALLENGES. In any case, both the challenges and the efforts necessary to face them will be numerous.. This is predicted by an Accenture study, which indicates that around 75 million people who have recently accessed electricity around the world are at risk of losing it because they cannot pay for it.

To date, the international community was contemplating providing 100 billion dollars a year to the countries most in need to promote their green transition.. At the gates of this COP28, new advances are expected in adaptation measures and compensation for damages and losses.

FINANCING. “There will probably be less interest in this from some quarters, but it is as important as the issue of mitigations,” clarifies Carlos de Miguel, professor at the University of Comillas and expert in climate policies.. In his opinion, the issues of human rights and environmental litigation are destined to advance decisively during the upcoming summits.

There is still a long way to go and in international bodies everything is tedious, “but little by little progress is being made, and it is better to do so by being ambitious and coherent, since the environment is a major concern, although then we do not act accordingly,” this teacher reflects.

Despite this, the climate crisis is already consolidated as the great priority on the world agenda, as stated by Jerusalem Hernández, partner of Sustainability and Good Governance at KPMG.. In this sense, he adds, the environmental issue continues to expand with more topics that occupy space in global conversations.

MORE TOPICS. There is, for example, the last COP15 held in Montreal in 2022, which established a strategic plan to reverse biodiversity losses.

And more recently, last March, a summit in favor of the oceans was held in New York, a city that also hosted another conference on water that same month, with dozens of initiatives and commitments.. “These quotes prove that the E in environmental surpasses, in ESG issues, the C in climate change,” reflects Hernández.

OPPOSITE REACTIONS. But, beyond the calendar of international summits, the KPMG expert believes that initiatives contrary to ESG trends that have emerged in the United States should not be overlooked either.

“The market is moving forward with sustainability reporting requirements and disclosure obligations and ESG funds are progressing, but there are also contrary reactions, which lead companies to green silence, to avoid the acronym ESG and to even abandon some global alliances,” he says. as Hernandez warns.

At the same time, green taxonomies are making their way onto the global stage. “China, Japan, Latin American countries and Russia have their own, to see where capital is housed and direct future flows towards more sustainable activities,” KPMG emphasizes.

OPEN DOOR. In this context, COP28 arouses a lot of interest because Dubai could be a turning point to move forward faster. What is at stake there, according to some authoritative voices, is the credibility of the COP itself.

“We encourage working together to restore trust and deliver on promises,” said Saker Nusseibeh, CEO of investment firm Federated Hermes.. And he also sends another message: “Middle Eastern countries and the energy industry must participate in the summit, knowing that there are greater opportunities in compromise than in disinvestment.”. They will also be forced to change by the pressure of a world in the process of decarbonization.”

ULTIMATE TO THE FORESTS BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHT

The forest threat is one of the main environmental problems facing the planet during the current decade. According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Food of the United Nations (UN), the planet lost 178 million hectares of forests during the period between 1990 and 2020, an area similar to a country like Libya.

But the loss of forest mass is not the only problem that affects forests. In fact, in countries like Spain, World Bank statistics indicate that the forest area has increased by about 33% over the last 50 years.. However, the health of the trees leaves much to be desired, the loss of biodiversity in these areas is very significant and the vulnerability of forests to fires and pests is increasing.

One of the factors that is most fueling this deterioration is climate change.. The average temperature in Spain in 2022 was, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), up to 1.7 degrees above the average of the entire historical series (1981-2010). To this we must add that rainfall remained at 536 millimeters, reaching only 84% of the cycle average taken as a reference by the aforementioned agency.. And with several months left in the year, the trend in 2023 has been similar, after a very dry July and an August that has been the warmest in the historical series (24.8 degrees on average).

It is true that both in June and in the first weeks of September, rainfall has been abundant in much of the country.. The problem is that they have arrived abruptly and in torrential episodes. “These rains are not as useful, since they run superficially and do not filter into the aquifers,” clarifies Rubén del Campo, meteorologist and spokesperson for Aemet.

WATER STRESS. For forests, ecosystems with slow dynamics and very long life cycles, sporadic episodes of rainfall do not solve their high water stress.. According to Jordi Martínez, researcher at the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (Creaf), “it is important, both to make predictions and to seek explanations, to take a window of about five years as a reference.”. Taking that period into account, he describes the situation of the Spanish forest masses as “worrying”, although in the future “it could become alarming”.

Another factor that influences the poor health of Spanish forests, also closely related to drought, is soil degradation.. According to a 2018 report from the European Court of Auditors, three quarters of the territory are in danger of desertification.. As Jorge Mataix-Solera, president of the Spanish Society of Soil Science (SECS), explains, “Mediterranean soils face various types of degradation, whether physical, chemical or biological, largely due to inadequate agricultural practices”. Furthermore, this expert emphasizes that, in some cases, “they are reaching critical levels in terms of their ability to provide ecosystem services.”

One of the main reasons for this wear and tear is the lack of organic matter, which at adequate levels can be key to stopping desertification.. Because, according to Mataix-Solera, “it has the ability to retain water and improves the structure and porosity of the soil.”. In addition, it is a long-term source of nutrients and energy for microorganisms.”

SECS supports the global Save Soil movement, whose main objective is to raise public awareness about the importance of soils.. Through social support, the initiative aims to achieve changes in national policies in 193 countries to increase and maintain organic content at levels between 3% and 6%. “We are beginning to see certain advances in Spain and the EU that we hope will be consolidated,” according to Mataix-Solera.

Poor soil health and water stress often translate into a potentially deadly consequence for forests: increased vulnerability to fires.. After a devastating 2022, Spanish Government data says that 87 fires have already devastated 66,064 hectares of forests in 2023.

A greener future thanks to the digital revolution

Including an intangible good such as information in the climate debate was, until recently, unthinkable. In the midst of the data age, the waste of gold in the 21st century has a direct impact on caring for the environment.

Its storage is responsible for between 10% and 15% of the energy consumption of data centers globally, and that has led to the landing of “necessary tools to cut technological waste”, as explained by José Manuel Petisco, director NetApp general for Spain and Portugal.

Companies like yours exemplify how the industry faces the environmental challenges that occur, precisely, as a consequence of innovation.. That is what NetApp seeks with solutions for all activities and especially for banking, public administration and energy, which involve optimizing the use of data in the cloud, identifying wasted resources, monitoring energy consumption in data centers and accurately calculate the carbon footprint of big data.

It also sounded like science fiction just a few years ago that three-dimensional technology could contribute to improving the use of natural resources. An example of this is the 3DExperience platform, from the company Dassault Systémes, which allows clients to imagine their new products and processes in a virtual universe in three dimensions, which avoids the need to use physical prototypes, which consume large quantities. of natural resources.

Hicham Kabbaj, general director for Spain and Portugal at Dassault Systémes, assures that its technology offers the industry “the visibility necessary to better understand its water footprint, by providing data on water consumption associated with the product or process they are designing.”

Regarding transportation, some sectors such as aviation see biofuels as a great step towards their ecological transition.. Iberia has been one of the pioneers in its use and manufacturing. In the opinion of Fernando Candela, CEO of the company, “it is not yet known what the engines of 2050 will be like, but we can bet on sustainable fuels that can be manufactured from waste”. One of the greatest advances, he says, is the possibility of capturing the carbon dioxide that is emitted to re-manufacture fuel.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. The rise of data science, artificial intelligence and environmental sensors that today capture more data than ever, together with the use of drones for spatial measurements, have multiplied applications for environmental preservation.

For example, to understand and restore ecosystems or protect species, as indicated by Raúl Bartolomé, director of Insight&Data at Capgemini Spain. “Thanks to image identification, we have developed projects to control the population of invasive species such as the spruce bark beetle in Sweden and thus prevent them from eating the forests or apply appropriate solutions,” he explains.

He also highlights that artificial intelligence facilitates the early detection of fires: “With the analysis of satellite images, you can determine if someone is having a barbecue, predict where there may be accumulated biomass and alert to carry out cleaning work”. And this technology, he adds, is an ally to search for new forms of energy storage.. “Modeling and prediction are allowing us to see how elements such as sodium, a previously underused material, work and their good disposition for storage,” he details.

Water resources have also benefited from the emergence of artificial intelligence. For example, Aquacorp has developed technology to monitor water quality with artificial intelligence and non-intrusive cameras.. This, as indicated by the company itself, allows continuous monitoring “without contact with water and prevents any possible contamination, even in the earliest moments.”

Companies intensify their commitment to the environment

Creators of economic well-being, companies have transformed the environment with the exploitation and processing of raw materials. During recent years, they have also taken a turn in their actions, in the interest of climate urgency and compliance with the objectives set by international institutions in terms of environmental protection.

“European companies are increasingly feeling regulatory pressure,” says Germán García, director of the Sustainability and Good Governance area of KPMG in Spain.. In their opinion, they are focusing especially on the decarbonization of their activity through compliance with the European Green Deal, Law 7/2021 on climate change and energy transition and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

This directive obliges companies to report their consumption, whether renewable or not, their carbon footprint or their decarbonization strategies and objectives.. But also, their transition plans, their processes for identifying, evaluating and managing risks and opportunities derived from climate change, as well as their impact on the business, among other issues.

“The pressure from its main interested parties” or stakeholders, according to García, is also influencing the use of tools such as the circular economy to reduce its CO2 emissions.. “We implement responsible production and consumption processes, based on the circular economy, with which we advocate for the responsible use of resources, the use of waste and the circularity of water,” says Mar Perrote, corporate director of Safety, Environmental Protection and Quality of the energy multinational Cepsa.

The circularity of packaging is a fundamental pillar. From the Ecoembes institution they explain that they were “aware of the problem that the abandonment of waste in nature (littering) posed for our ecosystems and we decided to contribute our grain of sand in its eradication,” says its Director of Communication and Marketing, Nieves Rey.

Together with SEO/BirdLife, Ecoembes promoted the Libera Project in 2017, with which they seek to stop littering. Rey confirms that this initiative has “released 750 tons of all types of waste into nature”, thanks to a network of which 2,200 public entities, organizations and companies are already part.

DECARBONIZATION. Apart from its recycling activity, Ecoembes also combats the effects of CO2 emissions. Its Reciclos program not only compensates citizen recyclers with points that they can allocate to environmental projects, but has also allowed them to plant 10,000 trees in the mountains of Madrid to help reforest an area hit by fires and intensive agricultural exploitation.

Without a doubt, the circular economy is, along with sustainable mobility, the action most integrated by companies in their environmental strategies.. But they are not the only ones. In addition to reducing dependence on fossil fuels through fleets of electric vehicles, according to KPMG, they are increasingly turning to boilers powered by sustainable sources.

And they are also opting for the consumption of 100% certified renewable energy. “Some, through long-term electricity supply agreements with a power purchase agreement (PPA) and others, through self-production and self-consumption, for example, with solar panels,” says García.

Likewise, the head of KPMG includes in the list of common actions among Spanish companies decisions such as the approval of aid to employees for public or shared transportation, prioritization of virtual meetings or travel policies with low-emission means of transportation, as well as than the definition of strategic net zero transition plans, the establishment of a carbon price to internalize the costs derived from greenhouse gas emissions and, ultimately, green purchasing policies in relation to their supply chains .