Good News for the Biosphere at-a-Glance!
This email is not a commercial initiative, but a free expression of optimism about the potential of humankind and the progress being made to help sustain and regenerate our biosphere.
Major Global Advisor Extols Business to go Beyond Zero Impact; a Restorative Biosphere is Now Required
Boston Consulting Group (BCS), one of the preeminent global business management advisors warns its clients that in current economic terms the remaining biodiversity on earth has twice the value of the total global Gross Domestic Product which is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period by the world. They go on to advise that doing no more harm will not be good enough performance in the future, they must now set their business goals on regenerative practices. On December 19, 2022, some 195 countries adopted the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) aimed at halting and reversing the global decline of nature and biodiversity. The GBF established 23 targets, including those focused on the protection of freshwater and other ecosystems and the disclosure of biodiversity impacts by companies. According to BCS the private sector will play a pivotal role in achieving the GBF targets, and Companies that embark on the transformation journey to nature positive early can benefit from first-mover advantages. Read more here.
Yale’s Citizen Climate Opinion Map Gets Granular
Yale’s Climate Change Communication program conducts scientific studies on public opinion and behavior to inform the decision-making of governments, media, companies, and advocates; to educate the public about climate change and help build public and political will for climate action. According to their survey results 72% of adults in the United States think global warming is happening. The website provides survey results for the entire United States, broken down into national, state, congressional districts and metro areas. How will this information determine politics and policy? Find your locality’s climate opinions here.
What’s all the Buzz About Hydrogen Being the Fuel of the Future?
Hydrogen has been called the energy of the future, helping to power cars, homes, businesses, and even entire cities. In this article, take a look at what hydrogen is and how it can be used to provide energy. Learn the basics here.
Dutch NGO Successfully Pursues Some of the Largest Climate Crisis Enablers
Friends of the Earth Netherlands (FOEN) initiated legal action against the Netherland's largest bank, ING, alleging the bank's climate policy is inadequate for breaching its ‘duty of care’ by supporting major polluters. FOEN is demanding that ING reduce its CO2 emissions, align its policies with the Paris Agreement, and sever ties with polluting companies. This action follows FOEN's successful case against Shell, where a Dutch court ruled that Shell must align its business with Paris Agreement goals under the ‘duty of care’ obligation in Dutch law. Read how here.
How is the Human Element Doing?
The World Values Survey is a global research project that explores people's values and beliefs, how they change over time, and what social and political impact they have. Since 1981 a worldwide network of social scientists have conducted representative national surveys as part of WVS in almost 100 countries. The WVS is a not for profit international research organization based in Vienna Austria devoted to the scientific and academic study of social, political, economic, religious and cultural values of people in the world. The project’s goal is to assess which impact values stability or change over time has on the social, political and economic development of countries and societies. Learn more here.
Our Biosphere - Is defined as that part of the Earth in which living organisms exist (the entire zone of life). As such, it is viewed as all the places that support life and includes the overlapping zones of the atmosphere, the upper part of the geosphere, and all of the hydrosphere. Or more simply; any place on Earth where life can exist. Not protecting our Biosphere is the root cause for most of the critical environmental, social and economic disasters we face today in the Anthropocene Era.
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Bill Stough, LLC | 616.889.0640 | PO Box 414, Byron Center, MI 49315