According to the United Nations’ (UNs’) flagship Global Assessment Report, the world could undo social and economic advances and face 1.5 disasters a day by 2030.
Humanity’s broken risk perception reverses global progress in a ‘spiral of self-destruction, finds new UN report. Human activity and behaviour contribute to an ever-growing number of disasters worldwide, putting millions of lives and every social and economic gain in danger, warns the UN. The GAR2022 blames these disasters on a broken perception of risk based on “optimism, underestimation and invincibility,” which leads to policy, finance and development decisions that exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and put people in danger.
“The world needs to do more to incorporate disaster risk in how we live, build and invest, which is setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction. We must turn our collective complacency into action. Together we can slow the rate of preventable disasters as we work to deliver the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) for everyone and everywhere.” said Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, presented the report at the UN headquarter. Here are a few disasters which we are already facing:
1. Global Edible Oil Crisis Exacerbates a looming world ‘Hunger Crisis’: Frying Pan to Fire. Cooking up a storm two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended global agricultural trade, Indonesia is set to ban exports of cooking oil in the wake of a local shortage and soaring prices, adding to a raft of crop protectionism around the world. The country accounts for more than a third of global vegetable-oil exports, with China and India, the two most populous countries, among its top buyers. Indonesia’s supply of edible oil to the world is “impossible to replace,” said Carlos Mera, head of agricultural commodity markets research at Rabobank. “It’s a big blow.” Indonesia is the biggest producer of palm oil, the world’s most consumed edible oil. The southeast Asian nation’s announcement of the ban on Friday, April 22nd, sent U.S. futures tied to soybean oil, an alternative to palm, soaring to the highest price on record for a third straight day. In the U.K., some supermarkets are limiting purchases of cooking oils like sunflower, olive and rapeseed.
Weather woes across the world’s major producers of edible oils are adding to fears of shortages. Dryness has crimped the size of soybean harvests in South America, the world’s biggest producer, and drought in Canada shrank canola production, leaving little available supply. Developing nations like India are set to feel the worst impacts. Such countries depend on palm oil imports as a cheaper alternative to more costly soybean, sunflower and canola oil. “We are terribly shocked by this decision of Indonesia,” said Atul Chaturvedi, president of Solvent Extractors’ Association of India and edible oil trade group. “We were not expecting a ban like this.”
Unfavourable weather in major oil-exporting countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Ukraine and Russia, which impacted oil production, coupled with a labour shortage in Malaysia due to the Pandemic, led to a decline in exports from the largest oil producer countries. In addition, last year, Indonesia and Malaysia introduced the B30 and B20 biofuel mandates, which increased the number of vegetable oils mixed in fuel, leading to higher local consumption and leaving a lower exportable surplus.
Soybean oil prices rose last year because of dry weather in Argentina, the largest exporter, and higher demand from major consumers, India and China. Likewise, sunflower oil prices were up because of drought-like conditions in Ukraine and Russia. About 85 per cent of soybean oil in India is imported from Argentina and Brazil, while 90 per cent of sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia, as per CRISIL Research. Almost all of India’s palm oil requirements are met by Indonesia and Malaysia. According to ICRA, palm oil is about 40 per cent of total consumption in India and 60 per cent of imports. The Indian government is faced with yet another severe challenge on the food inflation front, besides all other challenges and skyrocketing inflation.
2. Mental Health: The first major study to compare brain scans of people before and after they catch Covid has revealed shrinkage and tissue damage in regions linked to smell and mental capacities months after subjects tested positive. The study, conducted by a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), is published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Beyond causing a staggering number of infections and deaths, the COVID-19 Pandemic has led to significant social and economic disruptions that have impacted the lives of a large swath of the world’s population in multiple ways.
Also, since the start of the Pandemic, the severity and prevalence of symptoms of psychological distress, fatigue, brain fog, and other conditions have increased considerably worldwide, including among people not infected with SARS-CoV-2. This study only reiterates why people have become reluctant to do anything and complacent in life today. They also have become apathetic, listless and directionless. These issues have led the world into a crisis of massive shortage of workforce across all industries. As a result, organizations Don’t Know what to do in the New Normal world, which is not normal anymore.
3. The Great Resignation: In my last article, I spoke about the great resignation at length, which you can refer to here. One of the comments I received was how can we make the Human Resources understand the real reason why people are quitting their job and not returning. I spoke to one of the delivery heads, and his challenge was also the same; he has headcounts but is unable to get the ‘Right People’ for the job. Besides, the companies have started increasing the compensation to attract talent. A study conducted by MIT Sloan School of Management highlighted how a toxic culture in workplaces was a major reason many employees decided to call it quits in the last two years, and the wave continues. “A toxic corporate culture is 10.4 times more powerful than compensation in predicting a company’s attrition rate compared with its industry,” Other factors that are driving the great resignation, as stated by the study, were:
- Job insecurity and lack of reorganization.
- High levels of innovation.
- Failure to recognize employees.
- Poor response to Covid-19.
Lastly, the biggest missing factor was ‘Employee Engagement,’ which the organizations and their leaders have failed to address and has become integral to ensuring that the company appoints a good leader who understands how to work with his people. This confusion has led a segment of the people from the industry to exploit the situation. Employees are now demanding higher pay which is unheard off. It is not proportionate with their ability to deliver. Average and below average is thriving. These problems are connected to the human ‘brain’ that the Pandemic has disrupted. The reluctance to do their job diligently because ‘I don’t care,’ has become the attitude of the majority of them.
To summarize, these disasters and challenges cannot be solved by any one individual, organization, society, or even a country. It has to become a collective effort by the ‘One per cent of the population who want to save the world. These burning issues have led me to establish the ‘Mythistical Foundation’, which will address the above issues through its threefold path of – Right Knowledge, Right Tools and Right Direction. Our Knowledge Enablement program called Mythistical Way of Life (MyWOL) will enable and empower individuals to make a difference for themselves and the world around them. At Mythistical Women (MyW), we will be enabling women to take on more leadership roles and lead in this world of uncertainties and create socio-economic empowerment. Last but not least, at Mythistical Agriculture (MyA), we will be enabling the farmers to adapt the nature farming methodologies and techniques to grow more and better yield focusing on sustainability. To learn more about Mythistical Foundation, kindly do reach out to me, and if you are interested in being part of this social movement, do join us in building a ‘Golder Era.’
