Students, faculty, staff build and display two Climate Clocks on campus to raise awareness on climate change and the need for immediate action
24 April, 2023, Bengaluru: This year, IIM Bangalore took part in the Global Climate Clock Assembly and Display event to celebrate Earth Day, on 22nd April 2023. The IIMB community – students, faculty and staff, and their families, participated in this event by building and displaying two Climate Clocks in the Bannerghatta Road campus, in a bid to raise awareness on the status of climate change and the need for immediate action by individuals, corporates and governments.
The Climate Clock essentially counts down to the 1.5 degree Celsius increase in average temperature compared to the pre-industrial era. For this, it takes into account the carbon budget remaining to reach the 1.5 degree-threshold, which is about 280 billion tons. At the current annual rate of 43 billion tons of carbon emissions, it will take a little more than six years to cross this threshold.
“Unless we all work together, the future looks quite gloomy for the human race and other species on earth. But as we have demonstrated with the Ozone layer crisis, humans are a resilient race and are capable of coming out of this crisis too, if we decide to act with urgency and decisiveness,” said Prof. Haritha Saranga, Chairperson, Sustainability Task Force at IIM Bangalore.
The Energy Swaraj Foundation, in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, Government of India and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), organized the Global Climate Clock Assembly and Display event. All organizations, including academic institutions, corporate enterprises, start-ups, social organizations, firms as well as individuals across the globe, were invited to collaborate for the event. The Foundation had designed a very simple, easy to assemble Do It Yourself (DIY) Climate Clock kit. The Climate Clock serves as a visual representation of the urgency of the climate crisis, highlighting the limited amount of time left to act, and the need for immediate and decisive action. It provides a sense of urgency and a call to action, reminding that time is running out and immediate action is required to address the climate crisis.
As part of the event, IIMB built two climate clocks and displayed them in prominent spots on campus. One of them was built by the student community of the two-year fulltime MBA – the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and the one-year fulltime MBA – the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), led by the ENS Club, and the other one by IIMB faculty, staff and their children, led by IIMB’s Sustainability Taskforce.
Climate scientists estimate that beyond the 1.5 degree-threshold, certain changes in our climate will become irreversible. “We are already at 1.2 degrees above the ideal, which is causing more intense heat waves, storms, flash floods, warming of seas and melting of glaciers. According to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, once we cross the 1.5 degree-threshold, sea level is expected to rise by 10 to 30 inches exposing 10 million more people to coastal storms and flooding, and heightened heatwaves will subject 14% of the world population to extreme heat. “Beyond 1.5 degrees, up to 90% of all coral reefs are likely to die out, and about 7% of the earth’s land area could shift into a new biome, with grasslands turning to desert, tundra turning to forest, etc.,” says the report.
If we manage to reduce our emissions, the amount of time in the Climate Clock increases – and otherwise it reduces. Therefore, the Climate Clock acts as a daily reminder to individuals to change their behaviour and lifestyle to more environment-friendly ways; to corporates to adopt low-carbon technologies; and to governments to create appropriate regulatory mechanisms to reduce carbon footprint across the board.
Students, faculty, staff build and display two Climate Clocks on campus to raise awareness on climate change and the need for immediate action
24 April, 2023, Bengaluru: This year, IIM Bangalore took part in the Global Climate Clock Assembly and Display event to celebrate Earth Day, on 22nd April 2023. The IIMB community – students, faculty and staff, and their families, participated in this event by building and displaying two Climate Clocks in the Bannerghatta Road campus, in a bid to raise awareness on the status of climate change and the need for immediate action by individuals, corporates and governments.
The Climate Clock essentially counts down to the 1.5 degree Celsius increase in average temperature compared to the pre-industrial era. For this, it takes into account the carbon budget remaining to reach the 1.5 degree-threshold, which is about 280 billion tons. At the current annual rate of 43 billion tons of carbon emissions, it will take a little more than six years to cross this threshold.
“Unless we all work together, the future looks quite gloomy for the human race and other species on earth. But as we have demonstrated with the Ozone layer crisis, humans are a resilient race and are capable of coming out of this crisis too, if we decide to act with urgency and decisiveness,” said Prof. Haritha Saranga, Chairperson, Sustainability Task Force at IIM Bangalore.
The Energy Swaraj Foundation, in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, Government of India and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), organized the Global Climate Clock Assembly and Display event. All organizations, including academic institutions, corporate enterprises, start-ups, social organizations, firms as well as individuals across the globe, were invited to collaborate for the event. The Foundation had designed a very simple, easy to assemble Do It Yourself (DIY) Climate Clock kit. The Climate Clock serves as a visual representation of the urgency of the climate crisis, highlighting the limited amount of time left to act, and the need for immediate and decisive action. It provides a sense of urgency and a call to action, reminding that time is running out and immediate action is required to address the climate crisis.
As part of the event, IIMB built two climate clocks and displayed them in prominent spots on campus. One of them was built by the student community of the two-year fulltime MBA – the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and the one-year fulltime MBA – the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), led by the ENS Club, and the other one by IIMB faculty, staff and their children, led by IIMB’s Sustainability Taskforce.
Climate scientists estimate that beyond the 1.5 degree-threshold, certain changes in our climate will become irreversible. “We are already at 1.2 degrees above the ideal, which is causing more intense heat waves, storms, flash floods, warming of seas and melting of glaciers. According to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, once we cross the 1.5 degree-threshold, sea level is expected to rise by 10 to 30 inches exposing 10 million more people to coastal storms and flooding, and heightened heatwaves will subject 14% of the world population to extreme heat. “Beyond 1.5 degrees, up to 90% of all coral reefs are likely to die out, and about 7% of the earth’s land area could shift into a new biome, with grasslands turning to desert, tundra turning to forest, etc.,” says the report.
If we manage to reduce our emissions, the amount of time in the Climate Clock increases – and otherwise it reduces. Therefore, the Climate Clock acts as a daily reminder to individuals to change their behaviour and lifestyle to more environment-friendly ways; to corporates to adopt low-carbon technologies; and to governments to create appropriate regulatory mechanisms to reduce carbon footprint across the board.