"We have much to look forward to in the coming year, including the launch of LEED v5. You can apply by Feb. 27 to get involved in shaping LEED v5 as a consensus committee member." A kind message popping out in the inbox reminded me of a quote from Paul Polman.
Paul Polman, a Dutch businessman, once said this insightful quote.
Why is it "insightful"? Because he understood that when we combat with current climate condition, we can no longer do "Business as Usual."
If you are ever in a business, you probably have experienced that cutting emissions is not an easy practice.
However, if we see each of us as a "sole proprietor" in this Green Business, there are practical actions we can take at an individual level.
United Nations, along with IPCC, recently put out the 2022 Climate Change Report. Their "Mitigation of Climate Change-Summary for Policymakers" listed several areas for policymakers to consider alleviating global warming. These sectors are:
Energy
Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)
Industry
Cities and Urban
Buildings
Transportation
On the "demand-side" of all these sectors is what we each individual can contribute to mitigating climate change. In other words, following those policies would require us to change our lifestyles and behaviors.
Those changing behaviors are as such:
Try to take public transportation.
Switching commute routine to walking or cycling
Maximize the frequency of taking electric transportation
Shop local, tourist local, reduce unnecessary air traveling
Shifting towards a balanced plant-based diet
Adaptive houses
Don't look down on each individual's contribution. According to the UN, "Demand-side measures and new ways of end-use service provision can reduce global Green House Gas (GHG) emission in the end-use sector by 40-70% by 2050."
Why not get our new "climate change mitigation" habit started? It's only the second quarter of 2022.
By the way:
Recent news about recent climate change report:
“UN Climate report: It’s ‘now or never’ to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.”, UN News, accessed 4. 5. 2022
IPCC Report: “Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change”
IPCC Press Conference for Climate Change 2022 , via YouTube
Practical tips of living more sustainably: “Going green shouldn’t be this hard”, Vox/YouTube, accessed 4. 17. 2022
You also don’t have to go vegan to fight climate change. A little alternative diet shift could do the trick. “The diet that helps fight climate change”, Vox/YouTube. accessed 4. 18. 2022
Having extra food under our radar can also significantly reduce food waste, which also mitigate some social issues. “Food waste is the world’s dumbest problem”, Vox/YouTube, accessed 4. 18. 2022
Check out more sustainable credits:
[SITES]. HHWB6.7: provide on-site food production
[LEED ND]. NPD: Local food production