1st Reading Assignment
Earth is a place full of life, but it's biggest enemy is us humans. Humans will be the fate of Earth if action aren't taken. We can stop by limiting the amount of carbon taken from the soil. We can start using renewable energy such as solar panels.
Since the Industrial Revolution, more than 555 gigatons of carbon have been emitted into the atmosphere (Smerdon). This is considered a smaller estimate. The Union of Concerned Scientists have a different hypothesis, they think nearly 1,500 gigatons of carbon have been emitted since 1751, with more than half of that since 1988. On Earth we have a Carbon Budget which is the amount of Carbon the Earth can take in. If drastic changes aren't made we could exceed the Carbon Budget in the next decade.
Companies who thrive making money off of drilling for resources and extracting carbon, coal, etc; are at risk. Sense all this protesting it is a sign of a risk to companies like JP Morgan and Citi. JP Morgan Chase has poured about $196 billion into the fossil fuel sector from 2016-2018 published by The Rainforest Action Network. JP Morgan recently reported: “inclusive economic growth and opportunity in communities where we operate, and by 2023 we will invest $1.75 billion towards these efforts." This means JP Morgan wants to keep their business and invest it into a safer planet. This is basically keeping Climate Change, just limiting it and by 2023 the Earth could be too destroyed to start making a change.
Certain Banks are supporting these companies. Citi spent $4.4 billion on coal power financing from 2016-2018 whereas the Bank of China spent $16 billion during that period, according to RAN data. RAN is an organization that preserves forests, protects the climate, and upholds human rights by challenging corporate power, they also are leading campaigns to help resolve climate change. However, just 100 companies worldwide are responsible for 71% of the world's industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a report by the non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project, published in 2017. This shows only 100 companies are causing this worldwide issue. There are a lot more than 100 companies out there and if you pick a bank/company which isn't in that 100 you just helped the environment in it's fight against climate change.
Even if your not economically able to help there's still many other alternatives of what you can do to help. Just simply picking up trash and just overall keeping our environment clean. Instead of buying Fossil Fuels use renewable energy, restoring ecosystems, and regenerative farming and making transportation greener are all things we can do to help save the environment. Go out and plant some trees. Donate to trustworthy companies, who you know will make a difference. Try farming even if you have very little land. The more healthy our environment is the healthier and stronger it will be in the future for fighting against climate change.
"Banking on Climate Change." Rainforest Action Network, 2019, www.ran.org/
bankingonclimatechange2019/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Frumhoff, Peter. "Global Warming Fact: More than Half of All Industrial CO2
Pollution Has Been Emitted since 1988." Union of Concerned Scientists, 15
Dec. 2014, blog.ucsusa.org/peter-frumhoff/
global-warming-fact-co2-emissions-since-1988-764. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Griffin, Paul. "CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017." CDP, 2017,
b8f65cb373b1b7b15feb-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/
reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1499691240.
Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Jacobo, Julia. "What You Can Do to Help Prevent Climate Change, According to
Experts." ABC News, 2019, abcnews.go.com/US/prevent-climate-change-experts/
story?id=65721423. Accessed 28 Sept. 2019.
Since the Industrial Revolution, more than 555 gigatons of carbon have been emitted into the atmosphere (Smerdon). This is considered a smaller estimate. The Union of Concerned Scientists have a different hypothesis, they think nearly 1,500 gigatons of carbon have been emitted since 1751, with more than half of that since 1988. On Earth we have a Carbon Budget which is the amount of Carbon the Earth can take in. If drastic changes aren't made we could exceed the Carbon Budget in the next decade.
Companies who thrive making money off of drilling for resources and extracting carbon, coal, etc; are at risk. Sense all this protesting it is a sign of a risk to companies like JP Morgan and Citi. JP Morgan Chase has poured about $196 billion into the fossil fuel sector from 2016-2018 published by The Rainforest Action Network. JP Morgan recently reported: “inclusive economic growth and opportunity in communities where we operate, and by 2023 we will invest $1.75 billion towards these efforts." This means JP Morgan wants to keep their business and invest it into a safer planet. This is basically keeping Climate Change, just limiting it and by 2023 the Earth could be too destroyed to start making a change.
Certain Banks are supporting these companies. Citi spent $4.4 billion on coal power financing from 2016-2018 whereas the Bank of China spent $16 billion during that period, according to RAN data. RAN is an organization that preserves forests, protects the climate, and upholds human rights by challenging corporate power, they also are leading campaigns to help resolve climate change. However, just 100 companies worldwide are responsible for 71% of the world's industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a report by the non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project, published in 2017. This shows only 100 companies are causing this worldwide issue. There are a lot more than 100 companies out there and if you pick a bank/company which isn't in that 100 you just helped the environment in it's fight against climate change.
Even if your not economically able to help there's still many other alternatives of what you can do to help. Just simply picking up trash and just overall keeping our environment clean. Instead of buying Fossil Fuels use renewable energy, restoring ecosystems, and regenerative farming and making transportation greener are all things we can do to help save the environment. Go out and plant some trees. Donate to trustworthy companies, who you know will make a difference. Try farming even if you have very little land. The more healthy our environment is the healthier and stronger it will be in the future for fighting against climate change.
"Banking on Climate Change." Rainforest Action Network, 2019, www.ran.org/
bankingonclimatechange2019/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Frumhoff, Peter. "Global Warming Fact: More than Half of All Industrial CO2
Pollution Has Been Emitted since 1988." Union of Concerned Scientists, 15
Dec. 2014, blog.ucsusa.org/peter-frumhoff/
global-warming-fact-co2-emissions-since-1988-764. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Griffin, Paul. "CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017." CDP, 2017,
b8f65cb373b1b7b15feb-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/
reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1499691240.
Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
Jacobo, Julia. "What You Can Do to Help Prevent Climate Change, According to
Experts." ABC News, 2019, abcnews.go.com/US/prevent-climate-change-experts/
story?id=65721423. Accessed 28 Sept. 2019.
Given the scope of the problem, and that huge corporations are responsible for so much of the issue of carbon emissions, how much impact do you think an individual can make?
ReplyDeletequite a bit, just stop littering, eating certain food like meat and fish, recycle, and start using renewable energy.
DeleteI agree that every little bit helps. If more people were willing to make just one little change at a time, that would be a lot of change! And write to the companies of products you buy asking them to change. They don't want to lose customers so maybe if enough people write to them, they will change.
ReplyDeletethat's a good idea, I'll discuss with them to see if they will convert to a renewable energy company instead of mining for fossil fuels.
Delete