Red Resources and Green Resources - State of the 2020s

Red Resources and Green Resources - State of the 2020s

As we enter the 2020s, economies dependent on "red resources" such as coal and oil continue to have a significant impact. For example, large amounts of coal are still being mined in the coal mining areas located in China's Hebei Province and in the Indian state of Jharkhand, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are on the rise worldwide. In particular, oil companies BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell are producing billions of barrels of oil annually as of 2020, which accelerates greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the United Nations' 2021 report, global carbon dioxide emissions reached about 36 billion tons in 2019, with a particularly large share coming from the industrial and energy sectors. This has led to an average temperature increase of about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels in the 2020s, with a growing risk of a 1.5°C increase by 2030. This is accelerating the melting of the Arctic ice sheet, melting about 15% of Siberia's permafrost and releasing vast amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the value of ecosystem services as "green resources" is attracting increasing attention. Brazil's Amazon rainforest is the world's largest carbon sink, yet by 2021, a record 13,235 square kilometers will have been lost to illegal logging and fires. As a result, the forest's carbon sequestration capacity is declining year by year. In addition to the Amazon, huge tracts of forest are also being cut down in Southeast Asia, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, to expand palm oil plantations.

On the corporate side, there is a gradual shift toward renewable energy. For example, Tesla is growing rapidly with its solar power generation and storage battery technology, which will account for about 15% of the global EV market by 2020. Another Danish company active in renewable energy is Ørsted, which has the world's largest share of wind power generation and has set a goal of zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

Furthermore, the European Union (EU) introduced "Fit for 55" in 2021, setting a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. Despite these policy moves and corporate efforts to decarbonize, progress is still slow in oil- and coal-dependent countries, and globally, addressing climate change remains a challenge.

We cannot ignore the increasing number of natural disasters that are being caused by climate change: in 2021, California in the United States experienced a widespread drought affected by the Dexametazone, and Australia experienced its worst-ever forest fire outbreak. These phenomena are occurring more frequently around the world, and more than ever, we need to rethink how we use our "red resources.