Going Green to tackle climate change  

"Green" is a buzzword these days. Going green actually reduces carbon footprint and helps the environment. Green buildings are designed in such a way as to reduce overall impact on environment and human health by reducing trash, pollution and degradation of environment. Efficiently using energy, water and other resources is at the core of Green building.

People, Planet and Profit (3P's) are the original pillars of sustainable development. In the light of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 3P's have been upgraded to 5P's - People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership.

In fact, it was a difficult challenge to bring the world to understand that human activity has a real impact on our environment. For many years, some scientists and leading people denied this fact. It's true that climate has changed through the billions of years of our planet's life.

But the fact is that human activity has accelerated the pace of the change. Human activities generate so-called "anthropogenic" greenhouse gases, distinct from the greenhouse gases naturally present in the atmosphere. Those greenhouse gas emissions alter the atmosphere's composition, causing the increased greenhouse effect that is leading to global warming.

If the current global emissions trends are not curbed, the rise in average global temperatures should come to between 3.7°C and 4.8°C by 2100. To limit atmospheric concentrations by 2100 and achieve the goal of keeping global warming below 2°C, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 40-70 per cent by 2050 compared to 2010 levels, and to drop to levels close to zero CO2 emissions by 2100.

Renewable energies are the best bet for curbing CO2 emissions. Renewable energy reduces the consumption of electricity from National Grid which makes the environment healthier and sustainable.

Bangladesh is the leading country of the world in terms of domestic solar solutions. Public and private funds, as well as donor funds have been mobilised to build solar power plants. Banks not only fund projects to develop renewable energies but also encourage their customers to make     environment-friendly investment choices. Bangladesh Banks has already taken good initiatives for green financing.We have to love our nature if we want to be sustainable in business.

Climate change and environment are such important issues that we can't leave these for our future generations. We have no choice other than going Green.

Rajon Md. Shahabuddin is Deputy Secretary (Green project & Communication), BKMEA and MSc candidate in GIS for Environment and Development at Jahangirnagar University.

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