We don’t often think of climate change as a boardroom or business leadership topic. However, analysts are pointing out – and corporate leadership is realizing – that climate change has a direct impact on everything, including corporations and investors. This is not an industry-specific issue. It’s also not simply an ethical issue. Investors and board members are beginning to understand that in order to stay competitive and be successful in the changing global marketplace, finding solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change must be top-of-mind.
According to John Rodi, Partner and Leader, KPMG Board Leadership Center, “The business implications of climate change and an energy transition become clearer every day. How to get ahead of this and position the company for a very different future is becoming a standing agenda item in boardrooms.”
Fossil fuels are a polluting and finite resource that corporations must start to rethink in order to comply with rules from regulators such as the SEC’s Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures or the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CRSD). One important aspect of these regulations is the disclosure of an organization’s carbon output.
This includes shipping and logistics which rely heavily on fossil fuels.
Eurasia Group Vice Chairman Gerald Butts notes that “…this shift [away from fossil fuels] will confer once-in-a-generation benefits to those who get it right and consign obsolescence onto those who don’t.” In other words, corporations have to get the transition towards green initiatives and energy correct if they are to survive in the business world.
There’s no silver bullet, but there are reasons for hope – innovation in green solutions is flourishing, much of which aims to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Decarbonizing aviation is an essential component of reducing almost any organization’s carbon footprint. Aviation currently accounts for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, or about 800 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Global container trade is even worse, with container ships contributing 3% of global carbon emissions.
One potential solution is Anumá’s patented solar-electric, partial-vacuum lift (PVL) cell technology, which can be used to build emissions-free airships. These airships can reduce a company’s shipping and logistics carbon footprint, eliminate its reliance on fossil fuels, and potentially provide it with valuable carbon credits.
Airships built with Anumá’s PVL cells are capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and full buoyancy control making handling and landing far safer and easier than typical helium airships. VTOL makes it possible for them to deliver critical green energy components like wind turbines to remote areas. By replacing the need for expensive and non-renewable helium, Anumá’s PVL cell technology makes airships less expensive and more practical to operate, enabling them to reform the shipping and logistics industry.
Further, Anumá’s PVL cell airships can operate globally point-to-point, without reliance on surface infrastructure. This dramatically reduces logistics disruptions, such as blocked canals, fallen bridges, port congestion, traffic jams, floods, and more, making it a more reliable option for logistics and supply chains. The use of Anumá airships will protect supply chains and markets from the disruption caused by climate change, eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, reduce risk to personnel and profits, and reduce freight shipping costs. These are not only ethical choices for corporate boards and leadership, they’re choices that meet the fiscal responsibilities demanded by investors.
It’s time to usher in a new era of practical, sustainable aviation. To learn more, reach out to us at [email protected].
