How Deutsche Bank Is Helping Companies Finance Their Path to Net Zero
By Judith Magyar, Brand Contributor
Originally published on Forbes.
Earth Overshoot Day is the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. The first-ever overshoot took place on December 29, 1970. Since then, every year the date occurs earlier. This year, it was on August 1st.
“Taking planetary boundaries into account means that meeting the four key human demands —energy, food, manufacturing, and mobility—will require fundamental system changes,” said Jörg Eigendorf, Chief Sustainability Officer, Deutsche Bank, in an interview with SAPVoice on Forbes.com.
Mankind's desire to fulfill the four basic needs has created our current economic system. In the past, corporations responded to demands by increasing supply – with little consideration for the impact on natural capital. As a result, the complex corporate and economic structures now in place are increasingly inappropriate.
“These supply structures cannot be dismantled immediately, because governments are not willing to risk meeting the demands of the population,” said Eigendorf. “Hence, the emphasis must be on changing the way we meet the demands. We need to decouple economic activity as much as possible from emissions and environmental destruction. The external cost of doing business needs to be internalized to set the right price signals and encourage innovation.”
