Tag: natural resources

Arctic Resources of Global Significance

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Leadership, climate action, climate leadership, Global Climate Change

Arctic (41)

Arctic resources, with a reference to ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment), are of global significance. Although covering only about 2,5 % (per cent) of the world´s total surface, the Arctic region as one of the most scarcely populated areas on Earth is yet one of the most unexploited and has many resources of economic interest. These resources include: petroleum (oil and gas), and many minerals such as diamonds, tungsten, uranium, gold, coal, copper, and nickel. (The Arctic – With The Support of The Russian Geographical Society).

The Arctic Russia holds most (80 %) of the oil resources and is also home to all of the gas resources found in the Arctic region. What is the connecting link between the gas reserves in the Arctic Russia and the European energy market? According to Reuters, Kremlin is currently dependent upon oil and gas revenues and aims at increasing its market share in Europe by building Nord Stream 2, a project of Gazprom to build another gas pipeline connecting the Russian gas market directly with Germany, perhaps the most important of all EU member states which is yet depending much upon oil despite of its many developments in the renewable energy sector.

According to the European Commission, the EU has set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 20 % (per cent) by 2020, and by a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 80-95% (per cent) by 2050 in comparison to the situation in 1990. What gas and gas pipelines from Russia to Germany have to do with these goals remains an open question, with a Europe determined to strive for and invest in renewable energy sources and minimize the usage of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil.

Learn more about natural resources in the Arctic region by watching Al Jazeera English´s video “Counting the Cost – The new cold war: The Race for Arctic oil and gas”:

 

Connect with me on Twitter @annemariayritys. For climate/environment-related posts only @GCCThinkActTank. Subscribe to Leading With Passion to receive my latest posts.

 

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UN Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Authentic Leadership, Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Life Coaching, Responsible Investing, UN Millenium Development Goals

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”

(Ancient Indian Proverb)

The UN target of ensuring environmental sustainability includes:  

– Integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes, as well as reversement of the loss of environmental resources: 

=> Forests continue disappearing at an alarming rate

=> CO2 emissions have increased worldwide by more than 46 % since 1990

=> There has been a reduction of over 98 % in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances in the past three decades

– Reduction of biodiversity loss

=> An increase of 58 % in earth´s protected areas since 1990

=> In 2010, 12,7 % of the world´s land areas were protected, but only 1,6 % of ocean areas

– Halving the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation 

=> Target has been met five years ahead of schedule

=> More than 40 % of people without improved drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa

=> Still, 2.5 billion people in developing countries have no access to improved sanitation facilities

– Achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

=> The target has been met, although the number of slum dwellers has grown

(UN MDG´s. Quoted 16.5.2014). 

Despite of continuous improvements in environmental sustainability, we are facing huge challenges that we are all responsible for, and that we need to respond to NOW: 

– According to forecasts, 2/3 of world population will live with water scarcity in 2025, 11 years from now. In 2025 world population will have grown to more than eight billion, meaning that more than five billion people will live with water scarcity. 

– Today, developed countries (20 % of all countries) use 80 % or more of all natural resources.

In Finland alone: if the total world population would consume as much as people in Finland, we would need three Earth´s instead of the ONE AND ONLY that we live in today. Despite of the excess usage of natural resources in Finland, there are other industrialized countries that are even worse in over-consumption. You can check the current situation in your country´s statistics for consumption, or visit WWF´s website for more information upon the topic.

YOU DON´T HAVE TO DECLARE YOURSELF GREEN TO ACT GREEN! PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT, FLORA AND FAUNA, IS SOMETHING WE ALL ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR. 

NOT KNOWING OR NOT UNDERSTANDING ARE BAD EXCUSES. IF ONE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE OR UNDERSTANDING, IT IS IN ONE´S RESPONSIBILITY TO EDUCATE ONESELF IN THESE MATTERS, AND TAKING ACTION!