On Earth Day 2022, we were asked to “Invest in Our Planet”, which is a not to the critical developments that are supporting green investment around the world. The theme also serves as a call to action for everyone to engage in protecting our planet’s future.
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reminds us, it is time to take control of climate change. The IPCC’s most recent report called on the world’s leading economies to take charge on decarbonization.
Even days matter now in the fight against climate change. Turkey is far behind the world in this regard. That's why we have a lot more work to do. Since the first day we started working, we have become the world's first in green buildings. However, we could not make our voices heard in the cumbersome bureaucratic structure of the state.
Even days matter now in the fight against climate change.
Most recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed mandatory climate-risk disclosures for publicly traded companies starting as soon as next year. This is a significant step given that the U.S. and the SEC have been slow to implement and enforce a standardized reporting model, compared to Europe and other regions. The heart of the world economy beats in the stock market in the USA. Therefore, it is not difficult to predict that this development will affect the whole world.
We see the days when the world economy starts to be built on sustainability. That's why we're much more excited about green buildings. Buildings enable us to fight lasting and measurable climate change.
For the adaptation and sustainability of climate change, companies need to build green buildings in the first place.
The reality is that greater transparency at the top brings greater accountability at every level. The number of companies whose all facilities are LEED certified is increasing day by day. Another issue is the preparation of an institutional scale greenhouse gas emission inventory with a good sustainability consultant. Replacing the sources of this inventory with sustainability practices.
Even the SEC rule, which targets large, publicly traded corporations, will indirectly impact smaller enterprises. By incorporating Scope 3 emissions — all upstream and downstream emissions from a company’s value chain — the SEC implicitly brought smaller organizations into the fold. While quantifying these emissions may sound daunting, expert guidance for your sustainability journey will help. In fact, it is more important than ever, given the potential consequences of reporting inaccurate data.
All sectors in the world have to question what they are doing for sustainability.
Auditable and transparent data for emissions calculations is no longer a “nice to have,” and we are already partnering with companies across sectors to help them calculate their carbon footprint and chart their journey.
At ECOBUILD, we truly believe we’re all in this together. On Earth Day, and every day, we acknowledge our duty as global citizens to keep our earth safe and sustainable. As the IPCC report notes, getting the right policies, infrastructure and technology in place is just the first step. It must be followed by widespread lifestyle and behavior changes that help to reduce GHG emissions by 40%-70% by 2050. Because we all have a role to play in creating a safer, more sustainable and productive world — and we must start now.