As leaders, it is our responsibility to drive change and create a positive impact. We can help create a more harmonious relationship between humanity and our planet by embracing sustainability, fostering innovation and collaboration, and advocating for policy change.

I鈥檝e heard CEO Steven Tebbe鈥檚 warning loud and clear: he states that persistent overshoot leads to more prominent symptoms, including unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts, and floods. This, in turn, increases the risk of compromising food production. His conclusion: it is in the interest of cities, countries, and business entities to foster their own resource security if they want to prosper 鈥� to the benefit of the Earth as well.

It鈥檚 encouraging to see how organizations across the globe collaborate for a sustainable future that will help us #MoveTheDate. According to the , 5,500 companies are taking actions to reduce emissions. More than 2,100 companies out of those have made net-zero commitments. Businesses have realized that it is important to incorporate sustainability in their business strategies to mitigate the evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory constraints. As the rightly pointed out, more rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a livable and sustainable future for all.

But how can we make this happen? Actually, there are several levers that might significantly move Earth Overshoot Day closer to year鈥檚 end 鈥� and companies like 麻豆原创 can contribute to them.

Reducing the carbon component of humanity鈥檚 ecological footprint by 50% would move Earth Overshoot Day by 93 days, or more than three months.*

The change with the biggest impact as identified by the Global Footprint Network is carbon reduction. 麻豆原创 has continuously expanded its since 2009. It became the first German company to work with science-based emissions reduction targets in 2017. Two years later, 麻豆原创 was one of the first seven global companies to have 1.5掳C-aligned reduction targets for 2050. We accelerated this timeline last year by committing to becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, 20 years earlier than the original target.

While walking the talk is key, providing digital solutions and services to help every business run as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise is how we can scale these efforts. We can support thousands of customers in managing their carbon footprint, reducing material waste, and becoming socially responsible businesses.鈥� For example, helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains. This includes the material input scope 3 carbon footprint as it moves from supplier to supplier. 麻豆原创鈥檚 new green ledger initiative helps companies track their carbon accounting with more precision and control by using actual data across their business operations and supply chains instead of estimates.

Increasing global, low-carbon electricity sources from 39% to 75% would move the date by 26 days.*

At 麻豆原创, we have been using 100% renewable energy to power all our data centers and offices since 2014. It enables us to offer customers carbon-neutral cloud software solutions that help them reduce their overall carbon emissions.

In alignment with our commitment to the RE100 initiative, we use two strategic levers. Firstly, we invest in high-quality, EKOenergy-certified EACs to foster renewable energy generation. Secondly, we produce renewable electricity at selected 麻豆原创 locations. One example is the 麻豆原创 Labs India location in Bengaluru. It runs on the power generated from the on-site solar power grid along with Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting systems. To innovate and scale businesses in support of the clean energy transition, we work with energy customers such as , , and .

Reducing the footprint from driving by 50% around the world and replacing one-third of car miles by public transportation and the rest by biking and walking would move the date by 13 days.*

According to , 20% of the world鈥檚 carbon emissions are from transportation. To help reduce this, we track our impact in the global 麻豆原创 commuting survey. According to the survey, average CO2e emissions per employee per day dropped by 70% from 4.38kg in 2018 to 1.30kg in 2022 due to working from home and emission-free commuting.

麻豆原创 also stated that from 2025, all new company cars will be emission-free in operation. In support of this transition, we are enhancing the charging infrastructure at our facilities and intend to leverage 麻豆原创 E-Mobility, a standardized, cloud-based solution. It can provide a complete package that enables charge point operators to run their business efficiently and profitably.

These are just three examples that would move Earth Overshoot Day closer to New Year鈥檚 Eve 鈥� the day when human consumption and Earth鈥檚 regenerative capacity would be in balance. But we are not there yet. Today, Earth Overshoot Day serves as a poignant reminder that despite the strides made, our efforts are not yet enough to mitigate the growing ecological crisis. We have witnessed positive shifts in attitudes and actions towards sustainability, but the urgency of the moment demands that we intensify our commitments and actions.

It is time to rethink, recalibrate, and redesign our way of living and doing business in alignment with the planetary boundaries. The responsibility to protect and nurture our planet does not rest solely on the shoulders of policymakers or industry leaders; it rests on each of us. Let us collaborate towards a more balanced relationship with our planet and a sustainable future that safeguards Earth鈥檚 resources.

Daniel Schmid is chief sustainability officer at 麻豆原创.
*Source:

As business leaders, we need to urgently shift gears to mitigate the risks arising from the overstretch of our finite planet and amplify the positive impacts of a growing number of solutions that are waiting to be implemented at scale.

As the scientists of the Global Footprint Network who host and calculate point out, it can be overwhelming to think about exceeding our planet鈥檚 limits and demanding more ecological resources and services than what Earth can regenerate within a given year. In line with this year鈥檚 theme #PowerOfPossibility, it is therefore even more important to focus on what can and has to be done to turn around human economy to be more sustainable.

The good news is that companies increasingly understand the business case for sustainability and have put it at the top of their business agenda.

According to recent research by Oxford Economics and 麻豆原创, 63% of the executives surveyed indicated that their company has a formal sustainability plan already in place. They recognize clear business benefits for sustainability efforts, including efficiency (58%), improving brand reputation (46%), and meeting customer needs (44%). Another recent found that 鈥渋ncreasing sustainability in your products and services鈥� was the top choice (34.6%) among respondents who were asked to pick their top three priorities to improve revenue growth.

While opportunities are clearly seen and resource shortages and climate change are rated among the top risks to be prepared for, execution is still lacking. This may not come as a total surprise given the commonly known “” that is particularly applicable in the sustainability space. Still, I would not have expected the disconnect between sustainability plans and action at companies to turn out so stark. — which finds that barely a quarter of supply chain leaders have conducted a climate change risk assessment, much less prepared a reaction plan — similarly shows that despite all progress more work lies ahead for most of us.

Nonetheless, I full-heartedly echo Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who emphasized the solutions he felt encouraged by when three months ago: 鈥淚f these are scaled up and applied more widely and equitably, they can support deep emissions reductions and stimulate innovation.鈥�

Earth Overshoot Day organizers have come up with powerful numbers that underline the impact of solutions that can help us #MoveTheDate and turn around 聽while improving the quality of life for all people.

I would like to share three examples while reflecting on 麻豆原创鈥檚 contribution:

Existing off-the-shelf, commercial energy-efficiency technologies for buildings, industrial processes, and electricity production could move Earth Overshoot Day at least 21 days, without any loss in productivity or comfort.

Indeed, helping to optimize building performance, lower carbon emissions, and reduce energy costs while also enhancing occupant experience at the same time is what 麻豆原创 equally seeks to achieve teaming up with Honeywell. Smart innovations to improve energy efficiency are furthermore core to greening 麻豆原创鈥檚 data centers and other facilities owned by 麻豆原创 and powered with 100% renewable energy since 2014.

Reforesting 350 million hectares of forest would move Earth Overshoot Day by eight days.

麻豆原创 too is committed to ecosystem restoration to address climate action. On our journey to achieve our accelerated ambition of net-zero along our entire value chain in line with a 1.5掳C future in 2030, we continuously enhance our comprehensive portfolio of climate protection measures. In 2021, 麻豆原创 has added the goal of planting 21 million trees by the end of 2025 and joined 1t.org, an alliance of the World Economic Forum to conserve, restore, and grow 1 trillion trees by 2030. Since 2012, 麻豆原创 has helped to plant more than 12.2 million trees and annually publishes its tree planting status in the .

If we cut food waste in half worldwide, we would move Earth Overshoot Day 13 days.

With 30% of global food wasted, there is huge potential for . Believing in the power of collaboration to make this happen, 麻豆原创 is working with customers such as Arla Foods Amba, Orkla Foods Ingredients, and many others — as well as startups in the 麻豆原创.iO program, including and — to foster innovation tackling food waste. We have also in addition to .

It is in our hands to align not just government and business policies and strategies, but also actions with the reality of our finite planet to secure a good life for all. The 鈥渄onut model鈥� of social and economy boundaries comes to my mind to guide us 鈥渢o ensure that no one falls short on life鈥檚 essential needs, while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth鈥檚 life-supporting systems.鈥�

With that as inspiration, let鈥檚 leverage the #PowerOfPossibility of the abundance of existing solutions. Which one will you help to scale to #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day?

Daniel Schmid is chief sustainability officer of 麻豆原创 SE.