Arguably one of the most pressing global issues facing humanity at the moment is the slow path towards the loss of our world through the problems presented by climate change. Not only that, unfortunately enough, our leaders don’t seem to be taking things seriously in the slightest and we don’t seem to be making any forward progress at all.
I know I often lie awake at night feeling completely helpless, powerless and unhappy; the knowledge that my influence may have absolutely zero effect or help towards making our world habitable in the future can just be a bit much sometimes. Is this a feeling you get too? Fantastic! Well this article is most definitely for you.
There are so many political, cultural, environmental, sociological and moral reasons for climate change it is difficult to pin down a solution to one thing, but there are some specific plans and ways we can focus on as a society that will assist us in our quest away from this apocalypse.
Renewable Energy - Different Types of Investment
Green Energy is a bit of a buzzword at this point, and generally it is considered a good thing overall but it's always good to get a stronger sense of the different types of viable green energy that are available to us at the moment. A good way for the everyday person to get involved is in investment portfolios focused on green energy investments:
"The easiest way to play it is through the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). The $270 million ETF tracks some 124 different “green” energy firms as of March 2022, including stalwarts like Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) and First Solar, Inc. (FSLR).5 So far, PBW hasn’t lived up to its promise and the fund has managed to have a 10-year return of just 11.34%.6 However, the fund is a long-term play and could see higher returns in the future."
Hydropower as a whole is expected to be the most dominant renewable energy source in the future, so in terms of investments its a fairly safe bet.
"General Electric Co. re-entered the hydropower business in 2015, with the acquisition of France’s Alstom SA. Alstom is one of the leading producers of hydropower turbines in the world. At present, GE turbines and generators represent around 25% of the world's installed capacity."
Nature Restoration
Another key praised solution to some of the issues is the restoration of natural forests in order to reduce atmospheric carbon levels. However it can be difficult to see what the everyday person would be able to do in order to help with this, but in reality there area so many things:
"Create wild spaces in your garden or community"
"A recent study found that the UK’s town and city gardens produce the vast majority of food for pollinators in urban areas – accounting for 85 per cent. Creating wild spaces to boost insect numbers benefits many other species of birds, bats, and plants too – and is a simple, very effective way to restore natural balance in local ecosystems."
"Buy from companies with ethical supply chains"
"We need to support companies that are ambitious and commit to:
significantly reducing/eliminating their negative emissions (carbon, plastic, any other forms of pollution) – this is a bare minimum first step that any responsible business must do
AND
proactively seeking ways to protect and restore our natural world through their supply chains, and through donating a percentage of profits back to nature regeneration projects – this is not tenuous carbon off-setting, this is channelling funding into credible carbon sequestration while boosting biodiversity using Nature-based Solutions"
Goodbye Post-Industrialisation
Most of the reasons for climate change come down to the heavy industrialisation of our society over the last few centuries. A total rewind back to pre-industrial society would most likely solve the climate issue, albeit it might be fairly difficult to convince the population of the world to give up their materialistic possessions and return to a more simple life.
On a More Serious Note
Ultimately I hope this has given you any kind of a sense that can help you assist the world and ideally reverse this climate catastrophe we have found ourselves in. There are many other ways that can be seen in the links across this article; I highly recommend taking a peek.
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