As countries, businesses, and organizations commit to reaching net zero emissions—a critical milestone in the fight against climate change—establishing effective metrics and methodologies for tracking progress becomes essential. Achieving net zero involves balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted with an equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere. But how do we measure success on this journey? The process requires a transparent, comprehensive, and standardized approach to ensure that efforts areleading to meaningful reductions in emissions. Here's a look at how success towards net zero can be measured.
1. Establishing a Baseline: The first step is to conduct a thorough greenhouse gas inventory to establish a baseline of current emissions. This involves quantifying emissions from all relevant sources within the defined scope of a net zero commitment, whether it's a country, a corporate entity, or another type of organization.
2. Setting Clear Targets and Milestones: Success requires setting interim targets and milestones en route to the ultimate net zero goal. These targets should be ambitious yet achievable and grounded in the latest climate science, as outlined by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for businesses, for example.
3. Implementing Robust Accounting Standards: Accurate measurement of emissions reductions and removals is crucial. This requires robust accounting standards that ensure emissions from all sources are consistently tracked and that any offsets or carbon credits used are of high integrity and contribute to genuine additional reductions.
4. Regular Reporting and Third-Party Verification: Transparency is key to tracking progress. Regular public reporting on emissions, reduction strategies, and progress towards targets allows for accountability. Third-party verification ensures that reported data is accurate and that methodologies adhere to international standards.
5. Assessing Indirect Impacts: In addition to direct emissions, assessing the indirect impacts of actions is important for a holistic view of net zero progress. This includes evaluating the lifecycle emissions of products, the influence on supply chain emissions, and the broader societal impacts of net zero strategies.
Measuring success towards net zero is a complex but essential component of global climate action efforts. By adopting standardized methodologies, ensuring transparency, and emphasizing accountability, stakeholders can accurately assess their contributions to mitigating climate change and adjust their strategies as needed to stay on track.
If you have been watching the G7 conference you probably have seen the falling out between US President Trump and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While I am a technology futurist and a business speaker, I seldom get involved in politics or even comment on it. This however is analysis and the impact of how globally political disagreements are shaping the destiny of ordinary people like you and me.
An average person dreams about just a few things. Happy family, more money, retirement, good friends and good health. If this is not what you think usually, you should. Our countries, regions, and political outfits that govern who we dictate how we live, where we go and what we end up sometimes take the best of our time and energy.
The G7 summit in Canada was a great opportunity for world leaders to come together and talk about things that are shaping the world. Be it a nuclear instability, world peace or helping kids go to school in countries where stability is a joke. Believe it or not, as an industry commentator, I look at various geopolitical forces that shape business decisions and help economies grow. Be it in the Middle East, Europe, Asia or back at home in North America. The way politicians make decisions affect how your tomorrow will be.
While you and I can do very little about what actually happens at the G7 summit or events such as those, we can take over what we control, and shape our tomorrow based on what we think is the best way to move forward for us. The G7 was a catalyst in helping me think more deeply about how the world outside our control derails our life throwing it out of control.
Here are some common thoughts that can help you gain control of your life back, political fiasco or not.
1. Focus on Your Life — Take an inventory of all the things you need to do to be where you want to be. Identify your loopholes and gaps. Be real and be honest with yourself.
2. Stop living your life based on news — The news is happing all around us, it just is a matter of someone's opinion what is important. Don't live your life based on news, take in only what you need, what matters and what really matters. This does not mean political situations are not important. They definitely are and yet you need to choose your battles when you can.
3. Ignore time wasters — Jobs, people, friends, neighbors, anyone who is wasting your time is probably not doing it intentionally. The problem is that your priorities are not straight. Take an inventory to where you are spending your time and who are the people with who you are spending the maximum time. You are practically the average of them all. Like it, keep it. Don't like it, lose em.
4. Mind your time on media — Social or any media is a drain on time. Time is more precious than Unicorn blood. Wasting time is wasting your life. I don't know how to make it clearer.
5. Live in the Present — have you ever lived in the present? Forget everything about the future and yesterday, living in the present moment can enhance the quality of your life. People, media and the news waste our time and stop us from living a meaningful life.
6. Be Intentional & Meaningful — When was the last time you did a mindful exercise of figuring out where your life was headed? Have you prioritized your goals, dreams, and realities? It's time to do that or you may just be one more of us wandering in the maze looking for the next piece of cheese.
7. Don't be afraid to Dream — If you have a dream and also have the courage to relentlessly pursue it, then you will make it reality. If you are affected by all the points above then it's fruitless to dream because it may never happen. You must believe in yourself to the extent of holding yourself accountable for creating change. Do it !
There are many reasons for failure, some of which could be in the list above. You however only need one reason, one dream, and one goal to power yourself up and succeed. You have what it takes to succeed, and it's just a matter of finding the resources to help you get there. Are you ready for a 2 week challenge to follow #1 to #7 and share your results?
Are you a winner? Are you someone that always gets what they want? Are you one of those people who do what they set their eyes on no matter what the circumstances? If you answered yes to all of these questions then you are among the highly successful people in the world that have a proven formula for success. If you did not answer yes not all of these questions, you are part of the other majority in the world that tries to succeed but has good and bad days. This post is for the majority- because have some catch-up to do.
You have probably heard this a hundred times, “you have got to work smart not hard to succeed”.
How do you define working smart though? Would working smart mean less work and not working hard to be smart? If we work hard doesthat have nothing to do with working smart? Do smart people not work hard? or do hard workers not work smartly ? Confusing, right! Let's take a deeper look.
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Ian Khan, AI Futurist and technology Expert, has been featured on CNN, Fox, BBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fast Company and many other global platforms. Ian is the author of the upcoming AI book "Quick Guide to Prompt Engineering," an explainer to how to get started with GenerativeAI Platforms, including ChatGPT and use them in your business. One of the most prominent Artificial Intelligence and emerging technology educators today, Ian, is on a mission of helping understand how to lead in the era of AI. Khan works with Top Tier organizations, associations, governments, think tanks and private and public sector entities to help with future leadership. Ian also created the Future Readiness Score, a KPI that is used to measure how future-ready your organization is. Subscribe to Ians Top Trends Newsletter Here
