Sustainability

WHAT'S NEXT?: Preparedness and mitigation plans to increase resilience and reduce economic impact will be crucial over the coming years.

[New] Businesses are expected to set their own targets to help contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving per capita global food waste by 2030.
[New] Research and Markets, a consultancy, has predicted that the global market for bioplastics will be worth $43 billion by 2022, compared to $17 billion in 2017.
[New] Even though global GDP will double by 2040, primary energy demand will increase only by a third, due to energy efficiency.
[New] The potentially significant increase in demand for cooling by 2030 will need to be considered in any national frameworks for energy efficiency and the decarbonisation of heat.
[New] European cities will have to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies beyond the energy system and foster significant investments in energy efficiency if they want to become carbon-neutral by 2050.
[New] The UN Sustainable Development Goals are expected to be a roadmap for innovation, with revenue and savings opportunities estimated at over $12 trillion per year through 2030.
[New] Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80% of the assessed targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, climate, oceans and land.
[New] The next five years will be decisive in establishing the investment, infrastructure and innovations needed for a climate neutral Europe and securing Europe's competitive edge in the emerging global clean economy.
[New] $90 trillion of investments in climate projects will be needed by 2030 to combat climate change and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
[New] Getting financial markets to integrate climate change, environmental and social sustainability into decision - making will help financial institutions appropriately manage risk, reduce losses, and improve the resilience of the financial system as a whole.
Plastic waste is not just a risk for companies: innovation, and thinking about replacing plastic, can bring opportunities.
By 2020, under a business - as usual-scenario for plastic consumption, our predictive model suggested the world will produce above 200 Mt of municipal plastic waste annually and around 230 Mt by 2025.
A Code of Good Agricultural Practice on Ammonia is being prepared for Northern Ireland and will be published during 2019.
As new technologies are developed or transferred in response to opportunities or problems in construction, they will help the AEC industry to effectively meet the global demand for new buildings over the coming decades, and to do so in a sustainable fashion.
The building sector is responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon-dioxide emissions and 36% of final energy use: Committing to sustainability standards in line with international agreements could save as much as 84 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050 - with energy savings of 50% or more.
With the availability of sustainable raw materials at low prices, it is expected that the supply of aviation biofuel will be accessible across the Europe and on an international platform by 2030.
In the absence of action, the amount of plastic waste produced globally is predicted to triple between 2015 and 2060, to between 155 and 265 million tonnes per year.
Health and productivity benefits from green buildings and high-efficiency industrial processes actually exceeded the energy savings and could increase cumulative economic output through 2035 by $18 trillion.
The highly ambitious 2030 target could potentially be achieved if behavioural actions that make a global contribution, specifically reducing almost all food waste and reducing meat and dairy consumption and steel and concrete by a third by 2030, are accounted for.
Supporting sustainable development is key particularly in Asia that is forecast to remain the world's fastest growing region through 2030 with major infrastructure projects planned for the coming decade.
In 2012 the World Bank stated that 1.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste was produced by urban populations and estimates that that number will reach 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025.
The think tank's alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals will make Denmark a 'pilot country' for food waste and food loss.
PEAC warns the UK Government a voluntary approach to retail sustainability has failed, and encourages legislators to introduce mandatory environmental targets for fashion retailers with a global annual turnover above £36 million.

Last updated: 25 May 2019