Imagine the dull drone of an offshore oil rig that stands eerily in the middle of an ocean. Seems like straight out of a Sci-Fi series, it's almost-ominous presence is only to ensure we get the 90% of the products we use in our daily life.
How?
No. Croissants and Maroon 5 songs aren’t produced on those oil rigs. But the apparatuses used to make croissants and the devices used to record Maroon 5 songs definitely are products of those oil rigs.
Petroleum and its by-products make up almost everything you see around us. But little do we know, these platforms also emit the most carbon of all energy production processes in the form of toxic-gaseous flares and untreated-water discharges.
Do they really have to? Because we sure can’t do without our croissants and Maroon 5 songs.
No. They don’t really have to.
You see, oil rig operators can choose to depressurise and reduce toxic gas flaring, as well as install equipment to treat polluted water before discharging it.
But they rather choose to ignore these environmentally-conscious actions because ESG is more of a recommendation than an obligation. A rather easier and cheaper neglect, if you will. The cost of conforming to climate norms is too high when profits come in with so little. This is where our policy and its application plays a crucial role. There are banks like Society Generale that have decreed not to bank-roll certain projects that do not show sustainable commitments, and do not incorporate norms that are in accordance to goals set in the COP26 held in Glasgow.
In fact, the COP27 held in Egypt also made it an anchoring point in its agenda that they will follow-up on commitments made. Their aim is to finally move from negotiations to actions. Because, well, it's high-time we man-up and take up the mantle for change.
As students, we are duty-bound to understand the current industry, its trends and the ways in which it needs to steer itself, so that we preserve the beauty and bounties of nature, croissants and Maroon 5 songs for posterity.
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