As our population reaches 8bn, how does this impact our planet?
This week the world marked a milestone – the eight billionth baby was born on Tuesday 15th November. A world population of 8bn people is truly astonishing, particularly considering we reached 7bn only 11 short years ago. After this recent surge, it is estimated by the UN that population growth will slow down, with a predicted 15 years to reach 9bn and 2080 as the year the population will reach 10bn.
We have no doubt that brilliant minds will emerge from these billions of people, together with innovations, world firsts, and influential movements. What feels paramount though is the search for sustainable solutions to protect our planet, surely the most concerning aspect of our growing population has to be the effect of increased consumption on a planet with finite resources.
COP27 is currently taking place, filling our headlines with promises and climate targets. The key negotiations are reportedly centred on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to meet the 1.5C target and how to help countries adapt to the effects of extreme weather. But other topics include water scarcity, energy solutions, climate finance, biodiversity, innovations, and tech solutions.
Our Co-Founder, Kenton Cool, commented on the commitment to environmental protection demonstrated by the tiny sovereign nation of Bhutan during his recent visit to the country. He told us, “The three independent bodies that make up the Bhutanese constitution ensure there is a combined and rigorous governance which is almost unique, making the projections and commitments real rather than hot air. Bhutan doesn’t appear to throw out hollow pledges, rather they commit, take accountability and are willing to be held accountable. This is at the very core of Gross National Happiness (see last week’s blog). Once you start to try and understand what GNH is and what it means, then it becomes very easy to overlay most of the principles into our own lives”.
With ever-increasing pressure on our planet, the environment and the climate, we have a responsibility to analyse and adapt our current choices. At ICC, we constantly strive to ‘do better’ across our consumption of Energy, Transport and Food and have taken the following steps, so far: we’re proud to be Business Members of 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of our annual sales to environmental non-profits. We closely measure our climate impact via the Gold Standard and donate to immediate-impact carbon reduction initiatives. We assess and reduce operational carbon emissions via energy-efficient business solutions and plant-based nutrition. We can, and will, do more.
Are you able to make one small commitment to the planet today? Share it with us if you can, it will turbo-charge our day!
