Today is Earth Overshoot Day 2022. This means that all biological resources for the whole year are effectively used up already. During the pandemic, this date was delayed by 24 days but this year, it is already back to pre-COVID-levels. Currently, humanity consumes 74% more than the planet's ecosystems can regenerate. Therefore it uses about "1,75 earths" – the highest level of overshoot ever since the first Overshoot in 1971.
In contrast to the previous development, many effective and economically beneficial solutions already exist today to reverse ecological overshoot and safeguard biological regeneration. The Power of Possibility platform, launched in June, shows numerous examples, in the five main areas of intervention: healthy biosphere, energy, food, cities and population.
We at CWS also actively contribute to the reduction of greenhouse emissions and resource consumption – by extending product lifecycles, for example. “We always try to design our products to be durable, repairable and easily recyclable to keep them in circulation for as long as possible. In the long term this enables us to optimise our material cycles and close them wherever possible”, explains Dr. Maren Otte, Group Director Corporate Communications & Corporate Responsibility.
>>> You can read what we at CWS are doing to use our resources responsibly in our latest Sustainability Report.