Image via Global Footprint Network.
On August 1, just seven months into the calendar year, our planet passed the point at which it is able to sustainably keep up with the population’s demands for natural resources.
Known as Earth Overshoot Day, this milestone prompted one of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, to issue a warning that our planet is running out of resources and that companies and governments are not prepared for the consequences of climate change.
A Business Insider article on the issue reported:
“Recent studies have shown that global temperatures by the year 2100 could be up to 15% higher than the highest projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. According to HSBC, extreme [environmental] events have severe economic and social costs. “In our view, adaptation will move further up the agenda with a growing focus on the social consequences,” the analysts said.”
While Earth Overshoot Day is a somber signal to us all, at the World Food Bank our work centers firmly on solving the issues of depleting resources so that we do not have to continue to cross such milestones in the future.
Backed by our investors and our partners in finance, government, and the NGO sector, our mission is to revolutionize the way that our world’s food systems operate in order to solve food supply issues and mitigate the negative environmental effects of poor agricultural practices once and for all. Our technologically-advanced approach allows us to solve for issues, such as pollution and greenhouse gases, while increasing healthy food production in emerging markets, establishing global stores of food reserves, and creating pathways to significant profit for smallholder farmers and investors alike.
While we believe in the social impact our work is creating across the globe, we also believe that these solutions will only be sustainable if they are profitable.
Read more about our approach, and reach out to us today to learn how you can get involved as a supporter of our work.