Since it began in 1974, The Environment Day (WED) is the UN’s most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. This global outreach to individuals and companies is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.
While reach may be commendable, impact is not encouraging. A few statistics will illustrate this position – one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are reported killed annually from plastics in our oceans, plastic constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile, approximately 8 Million Metric Tons of plastic waste is washed off land into the oceans every year which endangers marine life and disrupts the aquatic ecosystem.
According to UNEP, plastics account for 10percent or more of our everyday waste – (UNEP). Sadly, it takes 500 – 1,000 years for plastic to degrade. It will then seem that virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated). To celebrate this year’s WED, an appropriate theme has been found in ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. It is equally important to state that the tagline, If You Can’t Reuse It, Refuse It is a powerful call to action.
Time to stick together
With the grave danger to our lives and oceans, it is therefore important for the world to come together to rid our world of plastics or reduce use to a barest minimum. As experts have warned, that without urgent action, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050.
The cause has found a worthy voice in the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, who is seeking 52 countries to join her Clean Oceans Alliance committed to cleaning up and protecting our seas. Affirming her country’s walk the talk posture, by committing to provide a £61.4 million package to fund research into recycling and improve waste management in poor countries. Many countries including the UK are looking to introduce a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds by the end of the year as she urges Commonwealth leaders to tackle climate change and clean up the world’s oceans.
Over the past 3 years, a major ocean clean up technology has progressed from feasibility research, to extensive scale model- and prototype testing. It is expected that the first operational cleanup system to be deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by mid-2018. It is believed that if the world stick together to rid our planet of plastics, by 2050 the ocean clean up would have been a major success.
NSE: Pillars of a sustainable world
The Nigerian Stock Exchange is uniquely positioned as a sustainable stock exchange that is championing Africa’s growth. Aware of its unique position within the Nigerian economy, NSE not only supports economic growth by providing an efficient and sustainable capital market but also through its robust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) philosophy play a significant role in social economic interventions to create a sustainable world. Its four pillars of CSR strategy are:
Community: The Exchange invests its resources in enriching the communities where its employees live and work. Some of the activities promoted under this pillar include: NSE Corporate Challenge, an annual 5km race to create awareness for cancer; NSE Essay Competition, annual financial literacy competition for secondary schools and the celebration of annual Global Money week.
Workplace: The Exchange is committed to maintaining a talent pool of resourceful employees by adopting a systematic approach to identifying, developing and training employees to ensure a robust supply of high-calibre individuals with the values, skills and experience required to function effectively. Major initiatives under this pillar include: NSE Graduate Trainee Programme, an 11-month programme design to expose recent graduates to the workings of the capital market; training for employees; provision of fitness centre within the head office, to mention but a few.
Orojimi is the Head Corporate Communications, The Nigerian Stock Exchange
Continues next week
Marketplace: The Exchange adopts market-based approach to ESG imperatives amongst stakeholders. Important efforts include Green Bond Issuance, Corporate Governance Rating System for all listed companies, The NSE Data Centre, introduction of SMARTS technology to forestall market abuse etc.
The last but not the least important, is Environment. Under this platform, the Exchange play its part in reducing negative environmental footprint as a result of its operations. To this end, it has deployed the use of energy saving lighting system for its operations leading to 80percent reduction in energy consumed year on year It has entered into a recycling programme with Recycle Points Limited to recycle plastics, cans and other recyclable materials. At least 8percent of waste generated by NSE are recycled. More importantly, the Exchange intends to switch from its fossil fuel power generating sets to a liquefied natural gas before end of 2018 to reduce noise and emission pollution.
WED 2018: The press for progress
In commemoration of 2018 World Environment Day, The Nigerian Stock Exchange held a clean-up programme to create awareness and sentisize members of its immediate community on the menace of plastic pollution. This is in tandem with the theme for this year, “Beat Plastic Pollution”, which urges governments, industry, communities, and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives and urgently reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastic polluting our oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.
As part of the celebration, the NSE invited distinguished environmentalists to close the market on the trading floor and ‘Sound the Gong against Plastic Pollution’. Renowned environmentalist expected at the closing gong event include Desmond Majekodunmi, Ede Dafinone , Chairman, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) National Executive Council; Bilikiss Adebiyi Abiola; Founder, and former CEO, Wecyclers, a company that offers waste collection and recycling services to the Lagos informal settlements, using cargo tricycle for access and SMS for data collection; Mazi Ukonu, CEO, RecyclePoints, a waste recycling and social benefit venture that operates an incentive-based scheme which collects recyclable materials from post consumers and in turn rewards them with “Points” which they can accumulate and use to redeem household items. RecyclePoints is currently the NSE’s partner on internal recycling campaign.
Speaking on the progress made in 2017 for its various sustainability efforts, the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar N. Onyema said, “Despite the pervading economic headwinds, we pressed for progress on numerous sustainability efforts and I am pleased to inform you that we recorded very strong positive achievements in 2017. We could not have done otherwise given the unique role we occupied in the Nigerian economy as the premier exchange and in Africa as one of the leading bourse’ that is championing inclusive and sustainable growth. Recognition for the sustained positive performance belongs to the great team at The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The NSE) and our numerous partners who continue to share our vision of promoting sustainability in Nigeria”.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange is proud of its collaboration with its stakeholders across its ecosystem to drive sustainability. This responsibility is further affirmed by its membership of various global institutions committed to promoting sustainability and they include Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI), World Federation of Exchanges, Global Reporting Initiatives, The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) etc. As the world press for a plastic free world, we can all play a part at corporate and individual levels.
Olumide Orojimi
