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Hope is green

As we celebrate World Environment Day today, Energiser underlines the fact that energy needs will be a major challenge by 2050, with renewables expected to play a key role in the creation of a more sustainable planet

The 5th of June is the date dedicated by the United Nations to celebrating the environment, with the aim of urging and encouraging governments and populations to raise awareness and implement practices to help preserve our planet. There are a number of concerns, including natural and energy resources.

According to the World Wild Forum (WWF), an international institution that says we need to rethink how we produce and consume energy, food and water and protect our forests, human beings consume 50% more resources every year than the Earth can sustainably produce.
The human race has grown in an unprecedented manner in the last few decades to almost 7.8 billion people today. In the meantime, prosperity has also increased, despite the different economic crises that have struck our planet, such as the one we are currently undergoing. This development has been accompanied by greater environmental pollution, an increase in the greenhouse effect and the degradation of natural resources.

The Earth's population is expected to top the 9 billion mark by 2050, almost 70% of whom will be living in urban areas, and the world economy will have grown almost four times compared to the beginning of the last decade. Consequently, the demand for energy and natural resources will be ever greater.

To meet these challenges, tools were established to improve the future of the environment in the 2015 Paris Agreement, in addition to a goal of paramount importance: carbon neutrality by 2050. For this to happen,“annual greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 6% to 7% by that date, “said Filipe Duarte Santos, a Portuguese environmental expert, in a recent interview with Energiser. Moreover, “we must all strive to ensure a safer, healthier and more resilient future for nature and human beings", adds the WWF.

INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

It´s a fact that our planet is changing due, in part, to climate change. Energy efficiency, carbon appropriation and the increased use of renewable energies are the three main ways in which to reduce carbon emissions. The path has already been paved, with more and more people and companies now aware that we need to help the planet, adopting simple measures at home such as turning off unnecessary lights and opting for energy efficient equipment, or, within a more wide-ranging scope, investing in sustainable mobility, the construction of more efficient buildings and the constant development of renewable energies.

Solar, wind and water energy sources have been used by mankind for many thousands of years and do not generate carbon emissions. Pursuant to a commitment to energy transition, major oil & gas companies have been investing with a focus on green initiatives in recent years. And although Covid-19 has apparently “paralysed” the world, according to a recent study by Norwegian consultancy firm Rystad Energy, the pandemic could have a catalytic effect on investments in this sector in renewable energy, acquiring assets, developing skills and improving its ability to shift to an energy paradigm beyond the primary sources of energy. This study names Galp as the second-biggest investor in green energy among the major players.