Environmental sustainability

What is environmental sustainability, and why is it important?

While many sustainability efforts revolve around helping companies measure existing emissions and trying to reduce them, environmental sustainability efforts attempt to turn back the clock. New technologies offer the chance to reverse damage to animal habitats and shore up future water supplies.

What are examples of innovations in environmental sustainability?

Examples of environmental sustainability in action include innovations that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and reduce chemical levels in soil. Examples of environmental sustainability in innovations such as CO2 capture, water treatment, and atmospheric water harvesting, the latter of which is the capture and collection of water in air either as vapour or small water droplets.

What technologies are enabling environmental sustainability?

Better catalytic chemistry and cheaper construction processes are driving improvements to CO2 capture technologies and, consequently, environmental sustainability. Innovations in chemistry are also driving improvements to recycling technologies and water treatment.

Which sectors are investing the most in environmental sustainability?

Polluting industries are investing heavily in CO2 capturing, especially construction, mining and oil and gas sectors. Occidental Petroleum partnered with a private equity firm, Rusheen Capital Management, to develop a direct air capture facility in Texas that would pull about 1 million metric tons of CO2 annually from the air. Chemicals and materials companies have been pioneering atmospheric water harvesting, which could help supply water-starved areas of the world with new sources of water. And innovations are also being driven from both governments and non-governmental organisations.