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July 15, 2020
Four Hundred Million New Jobs by 2030 if Businesses Prioritize Nature, Says World Economic Forum.
The report finds putting nature first is good for business and economic resilience.
Nature-positive solutions will create $10.1 trillion in business opportunities and millions of new jobs.
COVID-19’s impact is a stark reminder of our imbalance with the natural world, but the report shows businesses and governments’ opportunities to build back better.
Policy companion outlines how finance ministers can kick-start a nature-positive economy.
Photo: Scene at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. 18 January 2020. Image provided by & Copyright © World Economic Forum/Mattias Nutt.
Geneva, Switzerland, 15 July 2020 - The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented job losses and economic uncertainty. As governments and businesses look to stimulate growth, a new study from the World Economic Forum found that ‘nature-positive’ solutions can create 395 million jobs by 2030.
The Future of Nature and Business Report provides blueprints for businesses to tap into a $10.1 trillion business opportunity, focusing on nature-positive industry actions, meaning that they add value to nature.
The report reflects real-world examples where nature-positive results have improved business outcomes:
- In Indonesia, smart farming utilizing sensors and satellite imagery improved crop yields on average by 60%.
- In China, Suzhou Industrial Park’s green development has seen its GDP increase 260-fold partially through green growth.
- In Viet Nam, people living in coastal communities saw their incomes more than double following the restoration of critical mangroves.
“We can address the looming biodiversity crisis and reset the economy in a way that creates and protects millions of jobs,” said Akanksha Khatri, Head of the Nature Action Agenda, World Economic Forum. “Public calls are getting louder for businesses and government to do better. We can protect our food supplies, make better use of our infrastructure, and tap into new energy sources by transitioning to nature-positive solutions.”
• Food, land, and ocean use: What we eat and grow makes up around $10 trillion of global GDP and employs up to 40% of the worldwide workforce. Nature-positive solutions can create 191 million new jobs and $3.6 trillion of additional revenue or cost savings by 2030. Here are some examples:
Diversifying the diet: Some 75% of the world’s food comes from 12 plants and five animal species. Animal products provide 18% of calories but take up 80% of farmland. A more diversified diet of vegetables and fruits can create $310 billion in business opportunities annually by 2030.
Technology in large-scale farms: Over 4.3 million jobs and $195 billion in business opportunities can come from precision-agriculture technologies by 2030. With 40% improvements in yields expected, investments could yield returns of over 10%.
Retail: Every second, the world landfills or burns the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles. It means that $500 billion is lost every year due to discarded clothing. Using more renewable inputs and reusing, refurbishing, and recycling clothes could lead to $130 billion in savings and prevent 148 million tonnes of textile waste by 2030.
Fishing: It takes five times the effort to catch the same amount of fish now as it did in 1950. If the ‘business as usual’ approach continues, wild fish stocks will decline by 15%. It will cost the industry $83 billion, as boats will have to travel further and fish deeper. Sustainable ecosystem management is one way to tap into a $40 billion opportunity for the maritime industry worldwide.
• Infrastructure and the built-environment: About 40% of global GDP comes from the environment we build - office buildings, homes, and transport. Nature-positive solutions can create 117 million new jobs and $3 trillion in additional revenue or cost savings by 2030. Here are some examples:
Smart buildings: Retrofitting systems and installing more efficient technology in new builds can save $825 billion by 2030. Switching to LEDs and substituting natural light alone could save over $650 billion by 2030. Green roofs can save on energy costs, mitigate flood risk, reduce air pollution, and even produce food. The market for these could grow 12% annually, reaching $15 billion by 2030.
Smart sensors: Reducing municipal water leakage could save $115 billion by 2030. Return on investments in water efficiency can be above 20%.
Waste management: With $305 billion in additional revenue opportunities, the global waste management market could double in 10 years with the right investments in South Asia, East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.
• Energy and extractives: The energy we produce and what we extract accounts for almost a quarter of global GDP and 16% of global employment. With energy demand growing, there is an opportunity to create 87 million jobs and $3.5 trillion in business opportunities by 2030. Here are some examples:
Mining and resource extraction: Improving resource recovery in mining can save $225 billion and reduce water usage by 75% in the next decade. New technologies and more mechanization could enhance material recovery rates by up to 50%.
Circular models in the automotive sector: Refurbishing and reusing automotive parts, such as transmissions, retains more value and uses less energy than recycling. The world can save some $870 billion by recovering manufacturing costs by 2030.
Renewables: By 2030, Renewable energy sources can provide opportunities of $650 billion, and investment returns more significant than 10%. Stimulus packages for solar and other commercialized renewables can generate millions of new jobs. Solar energy without subsidies matched fossil fuel costs in over 30 countries. By 2021, it could be cheaper than coal in China and India.
Doubling down on revenue streams: The land for renewable energy projects is three to 12 times the size of coal-powered ones. Some companies are developing high-rise photovoltaic power stations that combine animal husbandry and ecotourism, providing additional revenue streams on the same land plot.
• Guide for Finance Ministers
A policy companion outlines how governments can complement and enable businesses to act. Finance ministers can combine six cross-cutting policy measures to put the right incentives in place as part of stimulus packages and create jobs without destroying nature. They include better measurement of economic performance beyond GDP, incentives for innovation, improved spatial planning and management of marine and terrestrial assets, the removal of subsidies that endanger long-term job stability, investment in reskilling, and increased financial support for natural solutions.
• Quotes from World Economic Forum Partners
“We must use the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to reset humanity’s relationship with nature. Investing in biodiversity and the environment offers the chance of building better economies and our resilience as a species,” said Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica. “Costa Rica has shown that the transition to a carbon-neutral, nature-positive economy brings greater prosperity, jobs, and new developments. It’s time to mainstream this model.”
“We are entering into a historic decade of action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and address climate change. The business has a critical role to play in environmental stewardship of our planet,” said Inger Andersen, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme. “They have the technology, innovation, and financing to make the shifts we need towards increased investment in nature’s infrastructure and nature-based solutions.”
“While there is still uncertainty in how COVID-19 will unfold, we must recognize this as an opportunity to accelerate efforts to put nature at the center of all decision-making,” said Alan Jope, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever. “There will be no jobs or prosperity on a dead planet!”
Source: World Economic Forum
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 7:07 AM | Link to this Post
