Who are we in line for the natural resources crisis?

We are in crisis, but unfortunately this is nothing new to anyone. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report, released earlier this year, the three biggest threats that humanity will face in the next 10 years involve environmental issues, and they are: climate crisis, environmental damage caused by humanity and scarcity of natural resources.

Coincidence or not, we are largely responsible for all of them and awareness seems to be the only path to change. It is up to us to ask ourselves where we are in this crisis. What are we doing? Become aware of what is in our power and fight not only for change, but for transformation. Have you ever wondered how your consumption impacts the use of the planet's natural resources?

Due to the acceleration in the rate of use of the goods provided by nature, the planet has been overloaded annually, entering into an ecological deficit. The proportion of all this led to the creation of Earth Overshoot Day, a global date that marks the moment in which humanity consumed all the natural resources that the planet is capable of renewing during a year. Unfortunately, in 2021, the Brazilian date took place two days before the global day, gaining negative prominence in this process.

Brazil, in addition to being the leader in biodiversity, has 13,7% of all freshwater and 20% of groundwater on the planet. But what are we doing about the resource crisis? Leadership in this ranking corresponds to the country's responsibility in the global management of water resources and, therefore, the need to be an example and influence. If we really want to change this game with the environment, we need to prioritize concrete solutions, that is, we need to invest in the restoration of nature based on awareness of habits, from personal habits, to the movements of large companies, governments and society so that this transformation happen.

On the other hand, we saw that scarcity generates a creative need that has shown us some important paths. The impact of the crisis affects the entire production chain, in other words, either you transform or you don't have a system. This impact, however damaging it may seem, generates a huge wave of forceps innovation, such as the increase in vertical farms, the transformation of logistics networks and new sustainable energy sources being used.

At the agency where I work, we have a mission of constant training to bring this knowledge about sustainability and show that it is not just a matter of separating your waste, but an environmental, financial and systemic re-education, in which we work so that this system is infinite and Circular. Currently, more than 60% of the projects we develop have at least one item of the Side B seal (certification that attests to commitments as an agency through best practices in favor of diversity, inclusion and sustainability) and 80% of internal suppliers classified within of the criteria. A while ago, we had to suggest eco-friendly practices to brands when planning their stands and events, today the client comes to us with the theme as a prerequisite. This all helps sustainability to be proven in practice.

In short, we know that natural resources are infinite, but everything has a time and a cycle, and when we break the barrier of this cycle, everything becomes unregulated. My hope is that new studies will come to show us more and more ways and that our technology will be able to advance faster than the degenerative state that we have overcome in terms of resources.