Denial and outrage… do we need a war of words or action?

In recent weeks there have been many headlines about the USA pulling out of Paris Climate Accord. Many are questioning if one of the world’s biggest economies pulls out, how can change be achieved? But let’s be honest, despite previous commitments to those agreements, the USA remains one of the biggest consumers and polluters on the planet.

Here’s why: The USA’s energy consumption is 24% of global production, yet their population is only 5%. The average American generates 2.2kg’s of waste daily, uses 220 litres of water and wastes on average 35% of all food. These statistics tell the story.

Awareness, commitments and signing of climate agreements have little impact unless they’re accompanied by collective behavioural change. And unfortunately, the increasingly polarized culture in the USA is making collective effort – especially when it comes to environmental concerns – nearly impossible. 

While we chose to highlight the USA, they’re certainly not the only country stuck in a cycle of hyper consumerism. It’s global problem, one perpetuated by emerging economies, that have been led to believe that buying more and selling more, is the way to achieve a better quality of life. The real problem is the measure for a better quality of life. It varies greatly around the world. As do economic and political priorities.

So how do we navigate this world of climate deniers, activists, and sceptics? There are many voices competing for a place on the soapboxes of social media, global forums and policy committees. Who should we listen to? What should we question? How do we move forward when no-one can even agree on the best course of action?

One big problem – thousands of solutions

While there are many things that people don’t agree on when it comes to the climate and environmental challenges we’re facing, one thing many scientists and senior sustainability professionals do agree on, is that there’s no easy solution.

We’ve tried that route with “green, eco” labels, carbon credits, and carbon offsets. The latter was hugely popular in boardrooms for the past two decades. It gave companies the appearance of taking action, but delegating the responsibility to others. At the same time, it enabled them to continue with business as usual.

Now, there is growing recognition that measurement has a vital role to play in environmental initiatives. Even more than that, measuring the right impacts, in terms of both costs, value and benefits, is what paints a more accurate picture of what’s really going on.

A prime example of this is recycling. Policies, collections and facilities have been in operation for decades. Now the statistics are showing a levelling off of recycling rates, despite increased investment in developing more facilities to process materials. Some people are very quick to cite statistics and claim that recycling doesn’t really work, so why bother? Others are using those same statistics to highlight why resource management has to go beyond recycling efforts.

Broader industries are getting in on the conversation, including technology developers, supply chain and logistics organisations, manufacturers, retailers, and even marketers. The awareness of how industries are connected is helping to bring together people that have specialist knowledge. Most encouraging is how these key players aren’t waiting for global treaties and government policies to be agreed upon. They’re moving forward with implementing solutions and showcasing the impacts so that others can learn from and build towards additional solutions.    

Ultimately, I think these are the type of efforts that will have the most impact. Of course, policy has its place, and if we keep waiting for politicians to figure out the best course of action on matters that they know very little about, well, progress will be slow.

Being involved in the resource management sector is a fantastic opportunity to interact and get to know the people who are instigating positive environmental solutions, in small ways, every day. From Plant Operators to Site Chemists, Commercial Managers, and Commodity Traders, each person is filling a role that’s making an impact. If we continue to build on that, we may find our way to greater collective action. Which will lead to more solutions, greater impact… and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a chance of surviving the mess that’s been created.