How the World can Respond to Sustainability
We live in an era where we are grappling with over-consumption and rapid depletion of the world’s natural resources – energy and water. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy report1, energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.9% in 2019, the fastest this decade. The energy and water crisis faced by countries across the globe tops the list of urgent issues that we need to address. MIT in a recent study stated that water stress is one of the top 10 mega-trends that will shape the world.
As economies evolve, populations grow and incomes rise, having access to abundant energy and water is a must-have. With the ever-increasing population and growing demand, the current crisis is set to deteriorate further. Why not?
Unraveling the truth
The energy and water crisis are no longer an industry problem. It is everybody’s problem. Unfortunately, most of us are far-away from reality to realize that. We have all witnessed and experienced the crisis in some form, but now we will need to come to terms with the amount of work required to achieve any semblance of a secure energy and water community. It’s time to take onus of the situation and start making changes. It is time we act together.
Where do we begin?
Impact at scale can only be possible with active participation from every-single individual that uses water and energy. A mandatory step is educating to raise awareness. If people are made aware of the adverse effects of their actions, they may become cautious in their usage. And, if done right, this can have a huge impact on not just managing demand, but ensuring long term sustainability of the industry, communities, and environment.
The importance of technology
We all know the value of water and energy and contemplate taking steps to save. How often do we execute that? This is where technology and innovation come into the picture. Energy and water companies have been doing their bit to further the cause of energy and water conservation using smart meters, real-time monitoring, and analytics. The real-heroes behind these endeavors are technology-providers who have been innovating at a constant-pace to build solutions that deliver functionalities to make the process of energy and water-saving far more inclusive and impactful. One such company is Smart Energy Water (SEW), who has been at the forefront of technology innovation to deliver digital platforms that enable energy and water providers to evangelize water conservation and energy efficiency. The platforms leverage technologies like Cloud, AI and ML, Analytics, and IoT to create awareness and empower the end-customer to make saving a day-to-day activity.
Advocating for change
Addressing and taking charge to ensure sustainability is a big task. To meet our ambition, we will need to work with policymakers, energy and water leaders, and technology providers from around the world. The road map is far more complex, but we are taking it one step at a time. Our first breakthrough is the WE3 Summit – that brings together the right people under the same roof, to discuss and execute on our renewed commitment to sustainability. Creating a resilient, environmentally sustainable, and economically accessible energy-water ecosystem is possible if the global community can martial an effective collective response. The WE3 Summit will focus on the creation of this response. Hosted in partnership with SEW – a company that itself is driven by its vision of sustainability, and aims to empower, engage, and educate 7.3Bn people to save energy and water.
There is an incredible opportunity for all of us that can be realized by taking action. Supported by technologies, we have started our journey to embrace that challenge and work toward building a better future – one that exists not just in our minds, but in real.
This blog has originally been published here.