By Tom Thomas.
There is an increasing global consensus on reducing the carbon footprint as the world moves towards attaining NetZero emissions. The convergence of all the countries on climate change conferences like COP28 is a pointer to that direction. How relevant is this to a Catholic? What are the steps that we can take in our business life and personal life to contribute towards this goal?
The CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere, as a result of human activity, is a big contributor to global warming. To prevent the grave effects of climate change by balancing the generation of emissions and removal of greenhouse gases, governments globally united and came up with the Paris Agreement as the CO2 emissions need to be reduced to zero. Five years ago, the goals of the Paris Agreement were to limit the global mean temperature rise to 1.5 C.
Net Zero explained
NetZero or carbon neutrality very simply refers to an approach of balancing the emissions produced and the emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Creation of carbon sinks such as forests can absorb the emissions, whilst the removal of emissions from the atmosphere require sophisticated and expensive carbon capture and storage technologies.
The upcoming COP28 summit to be held at Dubai from November 30-December 12 this year will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It strives to have all the nations agree to legally binding Net Zero targets. It is unfortunate that Holy Father Pope Francis had to cancel the trip to Dubai due to ill health where the Holy Father was expected to launch the first-ever Faith Pavilion and interact with many heads of countries.
India is third biggest carbon emitter in the world – after the US and China. India’s emission levels are expected to rise as the country rapidly gets industrialized. While many nations have committed to NetZero goals by 2025 or 2030, India seeks more time considering the unique challenges of its large and growing economy, India also opines that it is delivering well under the Paris Agreement terms, something that other nations are yet to achieve
The Net Zero Catholic
Personal transformation towards reducing carbon footprint is possible in business and personal life. Here are some suggested steps:
- Undertake a carbon audit of your organization conducted by a third party auditor such as TUV. Work on the audit findings in a time bound manner to reduce the carbon footprint. Many businesses in India have already done a carbon audit, and this is something we the Catholic Church in India can undertake at diocese level. Some Parishes such as Mahim Church , Mumbai and St Joseph’s Parish , Ponkandom, Kerala have already made huge strides in this regard.
- On the personal side you can use one of the many free carbon calculators, such as https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx to determine how much your current lifestyle is leaving a carbon footprint. I have noticed Indian organizations such as Tata Power and ICICI have made available such free carbon calculators for use as an indication of the carbon footprint. This can throw up certain surprises. For example, I was quite shocked to know that coffee has a large carbon footprint, and by my cutting down on the number of cups of coffee I drink daily or by sticking to drinking coffee produced sustainably, I can reduce my carbon footprint.
- Reduce the consumption of power through efficient lighting such as LED etc. It can lead to huge savings over time in terms of energy bills.
- Examine the compressors, ACs, refrigerators and geysers for optimal energy consumption, replacement of older equipment wherever possible, regular servicing will help. Use ACs only when required, set at higher temperature levels, even 2C higher than the normal can result in significant reductions. Also, investing in newer equipment that has higher energy star rating though initially more expensive in terms of investment outlay mean lesser utility bills and therefore lesser carbon footprint in the long term.
- Unplug: The residual power drawn by electronic devices in standby mode can be quite substantial. It is therefore good to unplug or power off devices completely when not in use.
- Reduce wastage of oil and waste, anything that can contribute to carbon foot print.
- Go Paperless: Certain surveys point to the fact that about 50% of the waste generated by businesses is from paper. In this age of electronic communication, we can set an agenda to strive towards a totally paperless home and workplace. Using tools like Google Documents, Drop Box or OneDrive to securely store documents and grant access based on need to those in the organization. Less paper consumption leads to less trees being cut and this will indeed help reduction of carbon footprint. For example, do I really need to buy the 2024 Daily Gospel Reading book, when sites like Indian Catholic Matters and Hallow, give the readings and reflections online every day. Many of the Church circulars and information can be delivered electronically to the parishoners by WhatsApp, cutting down on unnecessary printing of pamphlets especially witnessed during Advent and Lent seasons.
- ReUse: With the advent of the pandemic, we had in a sense gone back to the days of disposables. But now things are stabilised, in the home or office one can insist that our family bring their own water bottles, cups to work/school/college that can be reused instead of being disposables that are made of paper and plastic.
- E-Waste: Ensure that e-waste is disposed off in a proper e-waste recycling center that does not processes the e-waste in a responsible manner without harming the environment. Many developed nations are known to have shipped their e-waste to developing nations for disposal at great cost to the carbon footprint of that developing nation and ultimately affecting all of us.
- Car pool, public transport, bicycle, electric car modes of transport can be explored. Walk where possible. Lead by personal example as the team and home follow the actions of the leader. Flight travel is one of the biggest contributors to Carbon footprint and due to pandemic, we have all realized that many times travel may not be required and a Zoom/Google Meet up would do. This is in fact one of the positive trends that the COVID pandemic has ushered in.
- Work From Home: All professions may not allow one to work from home. For example I cannot run my factory operations from home. But I can try to work from home one day a week, and this in a small way contributes to less vehicular pollution and congestion, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. Technology would allow me to stay connected to the factory and the office on this one day I choose to Work from Home. This also helps me be better connected to my family.
- Reduce personal consumption. Buy only what is actually needed and buy local. We need to have the thought that every item bought or ordered does add to the carbon footprint through the production, packaging, delivery and ultimately disposal of the item. A minimalistic approach towards purchases not only is helpful in helping the bottom line but also improves the carbon footprint.
- Seek suggestions from your team and family on ways and means in which carbon footprint can be reduced at work and home. No idea or suggestion should be discarded without deliberation in brainstorming sessions involving all.
- Create awareness in your area government leaders to make climate change a priority, so they can drive change through relevant policies. Following Conference updates like COP28 help a lot in this regard.
- Gain self knowledge and awareness about the challenges ahead in embracing a lower carbon footprint by reading relevant resources such as https://cop28.com/, https://mnre.gov.in/ and https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement. Armed with these resources and reading of articles such as these, you would be in a position to lead the change towards a carbon free workplace.
Let us imagine the impact that 10K Catholic families can make collectively by trying to reduce the carbon footprint in their homes. It will surely not be insignificant. For example, if through following the steps above each household can reduce Rs 500/- per month in energy consumption, and this effect is multiplied by 10,000 families , it will result in an estimated Rs 50 lakhs savings per month in energy reduction besides requiring that much less energy to be generated and thereby reducing the carbon footprint collectively.
Net Zero is not a matter of choice
It is important to look at ways of reducing carbon footprint and support climate change through initiatives like Net Zero. It would be possible for an entrepreneur to use his leadership proactively to lead the transformation of his/her team into thinking towards how to leave a lower carbon footprint on the planet. These examples can be applied at home too, making the world a better place and live able for future generations. Every bit counts.
- It is not difficult to do. Even a small decision such as walking to the nearby store or church instead of using the car helps towards reduction in carbon footprint goals.
- It will not impede or hinder your process. By looking at ways to reduce the carbon footprint, your processes may become more effective and energy efficient thereby resulting in cost savings too over time.
- It is not rocket science and is in fact very logical. As the examples above in this article show, simple steps are all that are required to start the journey of reduction of carbon footprint at work or at home.
- Better to embrace the change. For example, when considering Electric Vehicles, most countries worldwide are looking only at Electric Vehicles production by 2050, so it’s a paradigm shift to replace our petrol or diesel powered vehicles with electric ones, but a path that we must surely take.
- Every bit counts and we have to start with individual contributions. No matter how small the initiative, and even if just one or two individuals in an organization or at home start looking at ways of reducing the carbon footprint, surely it will add to the impact of the efforts made globally.
- The collective effect will be large and worth it. Indeed. Let us start today.
Let us commit to take a step towards reducing our carbon foot print today, thereby leaving this planet a bit better than when we found it!
“Efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture. The mere fact that personal, family and community habits are changing is contributing to greater concern about the unfulfilled responsibilities of the political sectors and indignation at the lack of interest shown by the powerful. Let us realize, then, that even though this does not immediately produce a notable effect from the quantitative standpoint, we are helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising from deep within society.” Holy Father Pope Francis, Laudate Deum.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”- Albert Einstein
“I have learned you are never too small to make a difference.” Greta Thunberg