Change today, save tomorrow


Mark Jankovich, CEO of Delphis Eco, asks if the world has reached a tipping point on global warming, and how the professional cleaning sector can further sustainability values before it’s too late.


our professional cleaning sector have to play in taking responsibility for its actions?


First of all – the impact of climate change. Limiting global warming to 1.5 against 2°C will prevent the thawing of ice the size of Mexico. With 1.5°C of warming, the Artic will have one sea-ice-free summer per century: at 2°C it will have one every 20 years, which would prove devastating for wildlife and breeding colonies of animals and birds.


The sea level rose during the 20th century by around six inches. As the sea warms, it undergoes thermal expansion. By the end of this century, it is predicted to have risen by a further eight to 20 inches, which could have a critical effect on low-lying countries and coastal development as we currently know it.


Recent media headlines covered findings from the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), revealing that just one extra degree of heat could make a significant difference to the world in the next few decades.


Disturbing footage of fossil fuels burning to create energy, and pictures of smoke belching out from industrial regions of China, the USA and Europe, show billions of tonnes of carbon emissions are being pumped into the atmosphere each year. The IPCC has warned that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate. It may well exceed this, with catastrophic consequences for human life.


In the 728-page document, written by more than 90 scientists and based on more than 6,000 peer reviews, the UN organisation details how the Earth’s weather, health and eco-systems would be in better shape if the world’s leaders could somehow limit future human-caused warming to just 0.9° Fahrenheit (a half ° Celsius) from now, instead of the globally agreed-upon goal of 1.8° (or 1°C). The IPCC warned that right now, we are not on track for either.


And whilst we all, in our daily domestic and professional lives, are aware of the need for sustainable practice, are we really tuned in to what the effects are going to be of global warming? The old adage ‘it’s not on my patch’ no longer washes, as we are talking about 12 - 20 years away. That means that we, along with our children and our children’s children, are all going to feel the effects of decisions taken today. Every year we delay, the window of feasibility halves.


So, what can we expect to see if we peek through the looking glass to 20 years’ ahead? And what role does


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It’s not just about rising levels – it’s also about acidity. It’s a little-known fact that our oceans are predicted to act as a buffer against climate change by taking up some of the excess heat and carbon dioxide. This is good news in the short run, but presents problems in the long term. Carbon dioxide combined with seawater forms weak carbonic acid. Imagine our oceans devoid of fish, as the pH value reduces and the balance shifts to destroy marine life as know it.


And, as water vapour in the atmosphere increases, we cross significant thresholds. Heavy precipitation associated with tropical cyclones will increase and if we consider geographic variables, we will start seeing hotter deserts, more forest fires, the death of the world’s coral reefs (which are critical to ocean wellbeing), less water, an increasingly adverse impact on livestock and the world’s food chain. This is all alongside a growing severity of weather patterns, all contributing to greater poverty and risk to human life. For a large number of people, it will be a life or death situation.


How does this impact on our sector?


You may well ask – what does this all mean for the professional cleaning operator of today and, perhaps more importantly, the professional cleaning model of tomorrow? Is it too far removed in scale and aspiration to even consider within the day to day operational minutiae of business as we know it?


The world has changed and the tipping point has already happened. Business has woken up to the recognition that change is here, both by voluntary agreements around best sustainable practice, or as a necessary but a less favourable option: by legislative control.


Even by limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities, and would radically impact on world


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