Lesson 2 - Environmental Sustainability
In this lesson we will discuss key ways to understand and improve the sustainability of brewery operations. This will include understanding the global context for sustainability, the key environmental sustainability impacts of producing beer and opportunities for improving the sustainability of beer and brewing operations.
What is the Global Community doing to Combat Climate Change?
Climate change is an enormous global issue that does not discriminate between the geographical boundaries of individual countries. For this reason, global agreements have been put in place. In addition to the UN SDG on Climate Action, the Paris Climate Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was agreed in December 2015 and came in to force in November 2016.
Agreed to by 195 countries, the aim of the agreement is to decrease global warming by:
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Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change;
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Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production;
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Making financial investment consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
It is easy to consider that since some global warming has already taken place, limiting warming to 1.5 °C is impossible. However, mitigation scenarios developed by the IPCC have shown that this goal is achievable. To achieve this will require significant investments to transition to zero carbon energy sources, such as solar and wind power. Projects that restore ecosystem functions such as reforestation and regenerative agriculture can absorb carbon and lock it back into the soil and plants. Carbon capture and storage technology offer more potential solutions to draw carbon out of the atmosphere or capture it from power generation and other industrial processes.
As part of the Paris Climate Agreement individual countries developed national adaptation plans on how they will respond to climate change. There is an opt out clause to the Paris Agreement, which allows countries to pull out of the agreement in 2020 and the USA has given its formal notification to do so. Undertake some research on your county or city to find out how it is responding.