Macro trends: Moving towards a more sustainable future

It’s impossible to tell what the future holds. You can try to plan your life or your business goals and objectives years in advance, but the unexpected could always come and throw your plans into disarray.

With macro trends, however, we’re able to see where global shifts lie through cumulative scientific and social research. An example is the move towards a more online world – this was a macro trend that many people got ahead of, leading to vast successes for the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google.

Currently, one of the biggest macro trends being discussed globally today is climate change.

Climate change is causing extreme weather across the world – from flooding to blizzards and droughts. These hostile weather conditions are having an adverse effect on the global population, and as such, investment trends are happening to try and stop the climate emergency.

Over the last decade, ‘green’ sectors including renewable energy and sustainable clothing have seen increased consumer and governmental support – a trend that is only going to accelerate with worsening climate conditions.

A market report on renewable energy estimates that renewables will have the fastest growth in the electricity sector, providing almost 30% of power demand in 2023 – up from 24% in 2017. During this period, renewables are forecast to meet more than 70% of global electricity generation growth, led by solar PV and followed by wind, hydropower, and bioenergy.

Equally, the construction sector has been gearing up for a more environmental approach to large scale developments, as we’ve seen most recently with FCB Studios’ latest timber-centric designs and the Atlassian Sydney Headquarters in Sydney which is set to be the world’s tallest hybrid timber building.

Timber in construction is one of the best ways to help tackle climate change. Concrete is responsible for 4-8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions – not only does wood remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than it adds through manufacture, but by replacing carbon-intensive materials such as concrete or steel it doubles its contribution to lowering CO2.

Government policies tend to be a precursor to these macro trends, helping to create more opportunities. For example, Obama’s Recovery Act, instigated during Barack Obama’s two terms, fuelled growth in renewable energies with a $90 billion investment.

Similarly, in 2019, the Ayrton Fund was launched in the UK which gave British scientists and innovators access to up to £1 billion of aid funding to create new technology to help developing countries reduce their emissions and meet global climate change targets.

It gives us hope to see such invested in the protection of the environment and the easing of the climate emergency. We’ve got a long way to go, but with a sustained approach and the correct understanding of what we need to achieve, we’re sure we’ll get back on the right track.

And that’s it!

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