UN ESCAP through its Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Environment Programme’s Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), and the Global Concrete and Cement Association (GCCA) will host a Roundtable on Utilizing CO2 for Cost Effective Business. The Roundtable will take place virtually via MS Teams from UN ESCAP on 20 April 2021, from 14:00 to 17:45 Bangkok, Thailand time. The objective of the ESBN Roundtable is to bring together and engage the textiles sector and apparel & fashion industry, as well as the cement industry to share, discuss and further CO2 reduction via Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU). The Roundtable will also introduce a project proposal.
To accelerate the transition to clean and sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific Region, private sector driven innovation is a necessity. Large scale industries need to reduce their formidable carbon footprints, SMEs who are the heart of economic activity, must stop engaging in unsustainable production processes that contribute to resource depletion, waste and pollution leading to irreversible environmental degradation and climate change. Thus, there is an opportunity for SMEs to be a strong part of a paradigm shift toward a carbon neutral future.
Adoption of CO2 capture and utilization (CCU) innovations among existing industries is a cost-effective way toward more sustainable development. CCU aims to capture CO2 emissions from point sources such as industrial processes, to prevent the release into the atmosphere. For CCU, captured CO2 is converted into commercial products CCU (pathways that replace a more carbon-intensive alternative). Also, CO2 utilization by the private sector that includes SMEs has spurred the development of innovative and cost-effective actions, products, and industries while limiting emissions to the atmosphere. Innovations and proven methods of carbon capture and removal, coupled with feedstock from captured CO2, are in hand and afford the opportunity to effectively deal with the immediate and worsening climate crisis in an economically viable and responsible way.
Recordings of the Roundtable are available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frI5P9TQD1I and Session 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqNkQTG8h2U
