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With the threat of peak oil and a global petroleum crisis hanging
above like a foreboding shadow, we are in desperate need for
global companies to reshape their energy policies.
If we really want to help the worlds poorest families, we need to
find a way to get them cheap, clean energy, wrote Bill and
Melinda Gates in an open letter earlier this year. Cheap because
everyone must be able to afford it. Clean because it must not
emit carbon dioxide which is driving climate change.
Singtel, a telecommunications company based in Singapore, is
doing what it can to promote sustainable energy sources. Since
2009, when it drove the Pasir Ris Telephone Exchange a grid-tied
Photovoltaic System constructed by 192 photovoltaic panels
Singtel has employed several renewable energy sources in
Singapore, seeking to reduce its reliance on electricity from the
grid.
Since then, the company has supported the 2011 Bukit Timah Hill
Radio Station, powered by 100 solar panels and three sustainable
turbines; it has helped install a 30kWp Solar photovoltaic plant at
the Pulau Ubin Microwave Station; and it stood behind the 2014
Seletar Satellite Earth Station, complete with a solar tracker to
harness as much solar power as possible on a daily basis.
To address climate changewe look at mitigating our
greenhouse gas emissions by improving our energy performance
and efficiency, Singtel notes.
We are committed to reducing our operations contribution to
climate change and have invested in greening our networks and
in alternative energy.
Save water, save energy
According to the World Population Clock, the worlds current
population is growing at a rate of 1.13 percent per year,
amounting an annual population change of around 80 million.
Because of this, many parts of the world are experiencing
freshwater stress a factor thats only intensified by the effects of
climate change. When you think that we already owe two million
deaths a year to a lack of clean drinking water, the forecast that
half the worlds population will be living in areas of high water
stress is almost too dark to believe.
But fact is, there simply isnt enough water to go around.
Water and its use in industry, agriculture and the home is a
universal investment theme that offers opportunities across
diverse supply chains, industries and geographies, notes Fidelity
International.
Although water is a renewable source, the rate of water use and
demand growth is increasingly threatening to outpace the rate of
water renewalThe challenge for the global water industry is to
mitigate and manage the risks that can threaten water supply
One global mover seeking to do just this is the Intercontinental
Hotel Group (IHG), a multinational hospitality organisation with
more than 5,000 hotels across almost 100 countries.
Knowing that almost 40 percent of hotel water is typically used in
showers, toilets, taps and kitchens, the company has formed a
valuable partnership with the Water Footprint Network (WFN),
installing low-flow fixtures such as faucets, toilets and
showerheads to reduce water consumption.
Building on initial progress made in its 2013-17 target to reduce
overall water consumption by 12 percent per room, IHG works
alongside the WFN to relieve the worlds most water-
stressed regions.
South Yangon, Myanmar. A man and woman fill containers with
water from a lotus-filled pond during the El Nino-induced drought
in Burma in May 2016. Source: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP.
And these are just a few key measures being taken by some of
the globes most dynamic companies to ensure the safety and
security of society, and our damaged planet. These initiatives are
promising to say the least, as they signal a shared belief that CSR
is no longer an ethical choice but rather a moral obligation. And
so is committing to the Paris Agreement.
But we are on the right track. On Monday, the Wall Street
Journal reported that a number of top companies in Asia the
leading source of global emissions and corporate leaders from
Australia to Japan, said they will stand firmly by their commitment
to the Paris accord, regardless of what path the U.S. under Trump
takes.
One of those leading the charge is Indonesia, the worlds top palm
oil producer, and home to plantations associated with illegal