Why should we care about climate change? The past year has underscored its undeniable impacts, felt across almost all organizations; CxOs have even been personally impacted1. Surveys reveal widespread concern: 62% of leaders worry about climate change all or most of the time; 75% of adults in Great Britain said they were worried about the impact of climate change2; 59% of youth say they are either very or extremely worried about climate change; and 40% reported they were hesitant to have children3.
In today’s world, we are bombarded with information and overwhelmed with alarming news. As businesses, we face increasing pressure to report on our environmental impact and comply with new policies. Yet, amidst all this, the topic of climate change can be controversial, and some lobbies spreading misinformation make it even more difficult to separate what’s right from wrong.
So where do we even begin?
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of seeking out objective data, understanding the problem, and the actions we can take today to make positive change and safeguard our future.
Finding Reliable Information
When it comes to the complexities of climate change, there’s one resource that stands out: the “Summary for Policymakers”4 published by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Established in 1988 by the United Nations, the IPCC is dedicated to understanding climate change scientifically. It’s apolitical, composed of voluntary scientists, and ratified by 195 countries.
The IPCC publishes 3 reports every 5 to 7 years, based on over 60.000 scientific studies, in a freely accessible 7,500-page document. The conclusions reached are crystal clear: climate change exists, human activity is a direct contributor, and urgent action is imperative!
In its “Summary for Policymakers”, the IPCC forecasts scenarios illustrating the impacts of global temperature increases of 1°C, 2°C, or 4°C.
In a world at 1.5°C, which is the objective we’re currently striving towards, we already lose 25% of the biodiversity. With an increase of 4°C, the consequences are catastrophic.
Rising temperatures and humidity have fatal consequences for human health. There are many countries in which it will become impossible to live if temperatures rise above 2°C.
These scenarios may seem like a distant problem, but it is more than likely that our generation and the next will suffer the drastic consequences of climate change.
Why Should We Care About Climate Change? Understanding the Problem
Albert Einstein once said “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.“
The challenge the IPCC reports present is their sheer volume that few will have the time or will to sift through. While the 34-page “Summary for Policymakers” is a great way to start, it can still be difficult to digest.
One organization that has found a way to bridge this gap is the Climate Fresk workshop5. During an engaging and interactive 3-hours, this workshop helps participants gain a holistic understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change.
At Submer, we took proactive steps to ensure every employee understood the magnitude of the climate crisis. In just 2 months, we trained over 100 employees, and the Climate Fresk is now part of our onboarding plan.
Submer’s Commitment to Sustainability
We believe that collaboration is key and that it’s not enough to solely have our sustainability department involved. Instead, that every Submerian plays a vital role in finding ways to drive positive change in our industry, such as increasing energy & water efficiency, cutting CO2 emissions, and increasing HW lifespans, all while minimizing our own impact on the environment.
Of course, we can’t mention our impact on sustainability without a nod to our technology itself. We recently released the energy-efficient SmartPod EVO, the latest version of our flagship product with high availability, a heat dissipation capacity of 140kW+, and a minimized environmental footprint. It also presents heat reuse capabilities, for eco-friendly district heating and hot water applications.
Our Forced Convection Heat Sink (FCHS) with Intel is also a big win in terms of sustainability in the IT industry as it illuminates the path to cooling 1000W TDP chips.
A Call to Action!
Tackling climate change is a complex task for which there is no magic wand or all-in-one remedy. Every business, every department, and every individual has a role to play.
At Submer, we believe that knowledge is fundamental to trigger impactful actions – that once people are aware, they care. That’s why we’ve prioritized awareness-building, which has led to every employee having a 2024 sustainability objective unique to their role or department.
If you’d like to learn more about our approach and how you can mobilize your organization for action against climate change, take a look at Climate Fresk’s upcoming workshops here or get in touch with us!
- Deloitte 2023 CxO Sustainability Report, Deloitte ↩︎
- Three-quarters of adults in Great Britain worry about climate change, Office for National Statistics ↩︎
- Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey, The Lancet Planetary Health ↩︎
- Summary for Policymakers, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ↩︎
- Climate Fresk ↩︎
