Race to Zero: We Will Succeed

The Race to Zero campaign is a global initiative that was launched in June 2020 by the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC).

Race to Zero's goal is to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which will require a 45% reduction in CO² emissions by the year 2030. Its longer-term goal is to reach net zero by 2050. This means that the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted and sequestered by human activity will be balanced. Net emissions will be zero.

Aqua Libra Co has joined thousands of businesses around the world to achieve this goal.

A warmer world

In 1880, the average global temperature was 13.73°C. One hundred years later, the world’s temperature had risen to 14.3°C – an average increase of 0.07°C per decade. In the 40 years from 1980 to 2020, temperatures rose to an average 14.82°C – an increase of 0.18°C per decade.

Scientists estimate that, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s temperature has risen 10 times faster than in any other period during the last 2,000,000 years. This recent acceleration in the rate of global warming is a direct result of human activity.

Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gases are an essential component of the Earth’s capacity to sustain life. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and water vapour (H₂O), absorb and retain heat, keeping the Earth at the optimum temperature for life to exist.

Venus’s atmosphere contains approximately 154,000 times more CO₂ than Earth’s; the greenhouse effect on Venus is excessive, and the planet’s surface is hot enough to melt lead. Mars, on the other hand, has very little atmosphere, with no greenhouse effect, and its surface is frozen. As with all things to do with life, there must be a balance.

For millions of years, the balance of atmospheric greenhouse gases has fluctuated hugely, resulting in ice ages and floods. But this time it’s different. Because this time we’re causing it, and we have the power to restore the balance.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humans have increased the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide by approximately 47%. However, it’s not only naturally occurring greenhouse gases that we’re flushing into the atmosphere. Synthetic gases, for example, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), have extremely high global warming potential (GWP) and can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years before being broken up by the sun’s rays.

Global efforts

It all began in 1945, at the end of World War II, when the United Nations was established for the purpose of international peace and cooperation.

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden, was the first international step towards actively slowing and reversing the environmental damage that was being caused by humans.

The report begins:

“The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment … Having considered the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment … [proclaims that] … To achieve this environmental goal will demand the acceptance of responsibility by citizens and communities and by enterprises and institutions at every level, all sharing equitably in common efforts.”

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Earth Summit, as it’s more commonly known, was the launchpad for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty that came into force in 1994.

Ten years on, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (also known as Earth Summit 2002 or Rio+10), was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a decade later, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2012 or Rio+20) took place in Rio de Janeiro.

The Paris Agreement, which came into force in 2016, is an international treaty within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Article 2 begins:

“This agreement, in enhancing the implementation of the Convention, including its objective, aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.”

We’re on a mission to transform the role of water dispense.

Aqua Libra Co products are all designed to conserve energy. Thanks to ultra-efficient refrigeration and a patented twin boiler, Aqua Libra Co water dispensers consume only a small fraction of the energy it takes to boil kettles and refrigerate drinking water. Our proprietary filtration system, Aqua Pure, eliminates all limescale, ensuring full functionality and longevity.

Energy-saving technology is only half the story, though. We’re also committed to providing opportunities to reuse and refill. In promoting community-based hydration solutions that are accessible to everyone, we’re working towards the elimination of single-use plastic.

Sustainability has always been at the core of our company policy, and we’re proud to be taking an active role in this far-reaching mission to restore the balance of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere and to build a robust circular economy. We want to leave behind us a healthy world for our descendants and for every other form of life.

Find out how you can join the Race to Zero campaign.

Contact us

For more information about Aqua Libra Co products, please don’t hesitate to call us on 0800 080 6696 or email hello@aqualibra.com. Alternatively, fill in the contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.