A hummingbird flapping its wings in one part of the world can generate untold consequences in another, according to the widely-respected scientific ‘chaos theory’.
Such small and incremental actions have defined the wider climate debate led by Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres. The Secretary General warned that ‘humanity is in the hot seat’ after July 2024 was confirmed as the hottest month in human history.
Humanity’s most vulnerable in the climate “hot seat”
Small islands such as the low-lying Maldives, which have done nothing in terms of creating the climate challenge, are now at risk of being swallowed up by the overheated oceans that surround them.
To prevent this, the industrialised nations must dramatically cut emissions and roll out robust renewable energy strategies to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of the decade.
There have been some positive steps from sectors, such as retail with renewable and reusable packaging and the ability of customers to return single-use plastics to supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys, but there is still a long way to go.
The mood music is positive but not everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Renewable packaging shows promise, but no one’s falling over themselves to make big moves
The Grocer, the food industry bible, has published stories recently of renewable packaging trials ending positively. However, organisations haven’t followed these successful trials with wider rollouts across retail estates. We have even seen the re-introduction of disposable cups in one well-known store which had successfully trialled customers bringing their own in to claim a free coffee with their shop.
The never-ending saga of the faltering deposit return schemes (DRS) in England and Scotland, designed to incentivise the return of the 13 billion plastic bottles sold in the UK every year, has also not helped the situation.
All of this has sent mixed messages to customers who want to be able collectively flap their wings to do their bit for the planet.
The supply chain business has been developing circular economy for more than a century. As such, we understand the wider need to creatively reduce the carbon footprint through logistical optimisation.
Networks of pallet repair centres feed the European operation that ultimately reduce empty running and unnecessary miles driven, which ultimately save costs and the climate as part of what we refer to as ECOnomics.
Sadly, only around 9% of global supply chain companies can claim to be part of the circular economy, a figure that has remained stubbornly low for many years.
Time for positive chaos
Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of many years to resolve the climate challenge – businesses need to act now. Retailers are taking a lead and championing the small incremental changes that are necessary to create larger, positive change and lead by example to help educate customers and suppliers to do the same.
Necessity is the mother of invention and there has never been a more pressing time than now to get in a flap about affecting that change and creating a positive chaos for us all.
- Sustainability
