Multinational bank HSBC, which is one of the biggest banks in the world with $2.52 trillion in assets as of 2017, issued a dire warning this week about the survival of humans. The top bank warned that the Earth is running out of resources to sustain life, adding that governments and companies are not prepared for potential calamities.
HSBC highlighted a report by Global Footprint Network (GFN), an independent think tank that promotes conservation and sustainability.
Each year, GFN calculates when Earth Overshoot Day will occur. This day of the year when our demand for resources outpaces what the Earth can provide.
For 2018, Earth Overshoot Day occurred on August 1st.
Earth Overshoot Day has arrived earlier and earlier each year since 1971 when it happened on December 21. But in only a few decades, the time when we overshoot our resources has moved up by months. Humans are currently consuming approximately 1.7 times the amount of resources that Earth provides each year.
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“We use more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate through overfishing, overharvesting forests and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than ecosystems can absorb,” GFN said.
HSBC said companies and governments are not “adequately prepared” for severe climate changes.
“As scientists work on attribution analysis for specific events – the general consensus is that climate change is making these events more likely to occur and more severe,” HSBC said.
The extreme weather emergencies created by a warmer planet such as wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding will have severe economic and social costs.
I know I won’t be the person who saves us all, but I really hope someone steps up and fixes this.
Elon Musk, where you at, bro?