We cannot let this opportunity for radical transformation pass us by

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

There is very little doubt that we are in the throws of global catastrophe that will be with us for some time to come. That this has disrupted our lives and businesses deeply is an understatement.

After getting over the initial shock of what mitigation strategies had to be enacted to slow the spread of the virus and protect our health systems from collapse, we are having to turn our attention to adaptation strategies as is evidenced for example by the millions of people who are having to learn how to work from home to keep businesses and the economy running to some degree. This is not an easy time for anyone.

We may be tempted into thinking that it will be just these few weeks and things will go back to normal. We have every indication to believe that this is not the case. Lockdowns don’t make the virus disappear. All they do is slow the spread. The virus will be with us until we have a vaccine. Most estimates put this at 18 months, if we are lucky. We are going to be dealing with this for the foreseeable future.

We are going to have to find a way to turn our economy and businesses back on but at the same time remain safe from infection. This is going to require that we adapt to this new reality and in many cases that will require that we reinvent ourselves.

However, its important to understand that this pandemic has simply fast tracked a transformation that was extremely urgent anyway. There is another catastrophe more severe and irreversible than this pandemic which looms very large on our horizon and that is the heating planet and the extremely dire consequences of that for ALL life on earth.

Just as scientists have warned about pandemics such as this, so too scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global climate crisis and the urgent action required for us to transform the way we use fossil fuels.

Here is what we have to do to avert a global disaster. We need to reduce our global carbon emissions by 7.6% every year for the next decade. That will take a global transformation of epic proportions to how we live and work, just as this pandemic has. It means that every single business has to find a way to decouple revenue generation from the need to burn fossil fuels. It means we must transform our businesses. It means we must transform how we live and move.

This current pandemic has shown us that there are, in fact, quick win actions we can take RIGH NOW to emissions reduction down. We CAN fly less. We CAN drive less. We can do these things right now. We have proven we can.

The greatest transformation your business will need to undergo is decoupling from the need to burn fossil fuels. Don’t let the current situation pass you by without beginning an urgent move down this path. Our survival and the survival of all life on earth depends on it.