Technology, Cloud Services and the Environment
World Environment Day occurs every year on the 5th of June and the theme this year was, ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ and what a theme for this time in 2021.
The deeper theme of Ecosystem Restoration is ‘to make peace with nature – through growing trees, changing diets, greening cities and cleaning up rivers and coasts.’
What has lockdown brought us?
Lockdown has brought many things to the forefront of our minds – and one of those has been the environment. Have you noticed how clear the air is and how loud the birdsong sounds while you have been in lockdown?
One of the biggest changes noticed across the world has been the drop in carbon emissions. DEFRA states that since lockdown UK carbon emissions have dropped by 48%.
This is because there are fewer vehicles on the roads, many factories and businesses are closed, and there are far fewer planes are in our skies. Nature and our environment seem to be recovering from the damaging effects of air, sea and water pollution.
Flights have dropped by 71 per cent from over 180,000 in January (FLIGHTRADAR24).
Clearly, this will change over time as lockdown eases, however, we believe that this time of the ‘great pause’ will bring about greater change in business as we face the fact that our impact on our planet is real – and we can change that for the better.
Central to this will be technology and our smart use of it.
How are technology and Hosting Services helping the environment?
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- Geo-location data has been used to anonymously gather information from mobile phones about people’s movements, and during lockdown the UK Cabinet office national data has shown that motor traffic has dropped by 73% compared with pre-virus levels; showing that many people have in fact stayed at home.
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- Drones – legal use of drones by certified specialists can track illegal activity. For example in areas where illegal logging is known to take place, drones can monitor those difficult to access areas. This helps to protect the forests.
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- Drones again – in parts of the world where coverage is difficult, thermal imaging video cameras can record illegal activity, and also deter future attempts at poaching endangered species. Of course, these technologies can be used much closer to home eg. to inspect large buildings or dangerous environments.
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- Video platforms have already played an important role for many businesses during the lockdown and also linking family and friends (our business Cloud Hosting Services professionals recommend using a secure and reliable platform like Microsoft Teams). We believe this will continue and will also be embraced by many baby boomers who may have previously avoided using these technologies.
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- Cutting down on travel, use of offices and taking the business online may be the way forward for some businesses in the future. We believe most businesses will be unafraid now of being more flexible around home and office working – and some may never go back to ‘bottoms on seats’ in offices again. It’s easy to create online workshops; consultancy meetings and to operate as teams, with the right tech in place.
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- Being paperless – using tech and apps smartly in your business is eco-friendly and sustainable, with the right security in place. Paperwork takes up space, is inefficient to sort out, and can be a major fire hazard.
If you are considering making some major changes to the ‘how’ of your business – please get in touch!
Our Hosting Services team can support you to use technology smartly and safely to match your future business goals and support your team. We will find a solution bespoke to you and your business – and if there isn’t one, we can build it.
How can these changes benefit us all in the future?
All of these changes would benefit our future emissions and our natural environment.
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- The restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services.
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- Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
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- The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.
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- Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.
Making these changes to our behaviours could be what we need to create a future that will benefit people, businesses and the planet.
Are you ready?