12 New Year's Resolutions for More Sustainable Living - Bloomberg
12 New Year’s Resolutions for More Sustainable Living - Bloomberg
Shoppers walk through a produce aisle at a grocery store in Toronto. Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
12 New Year’s Resolutions for Sustainable Living
From your diet to your buying habits to what you talk about with friends, what you do really does matters in the fight against climate change.
Climate change often feels like an insurmountable challenge: The whole planet must move away from fossil fuels and rethink how we live, eat and get around. But the path to net zero is not unlike a series of humanity-wide New Year’s resolutions — to try a new way, to follow through on change, and to unlock a different and better permutation of ourselves.
That applies on the individual level, too. Because we can all do better when it comes to addressing the worsening climate crisis — how just depends on the level of time, energy and money you’re willing to spend. Whether you’re looking to get up to speed on the problem or jump straight into solving it, Bloomberg Green has you covered with 12 suggestions on where to start.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”