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GREEN TECHNOLOGY

COP26 – the UN Climate Conference took place in the UK towards the end of last year . Ahead of the Conference , 200 countries were asked to reveal their plans to cut carbon emissions by 2030 . In 2015 , as part of the Paris Agreement , these nations committed to keeping global warming well below two degrees Celsius ( but preferably 1.5 ) compared to pre-industrial levels . The goal is said to be ‘ net zero ’ emissions by 2050 .

Understandably , the manufacturing sector is facing hefty CO ₂ reduction targets given its heavy carbon footprint . To achieve this concrete KPIs , carbon reduction targets and carbon neutrality objectives are increasingly becoming an important part of companies ’ strategies . The investor community is looking at these matters with increased scrutiny .

Early studies suggest that companies ’ efforts to protect the climate are very well received by workforces , customers and investment markets . The manufacturing industry is a major emitter of greenhouse gases and will need to work even harder to contribute its share in the fight against climate change and in doing so will have

Francois van Hirtum , Chief Technology Officer , Obscure Technologies

to rely on a variety of solutions , including leveraging the power of data .

With a 22 % share of Europe ’ s total CO ₂ emissions , manufacturing is the third largest emitter after energy and transport .

The South African side of the equation is equally bleak with Bloomberg Green , the environmental section of the financial website , Bloomberg , in 2021 reporting that South Africa is the world ’ s 12th-biggest source of greenhouse gases .

Paul Ruinaard , Regional Sales Director , South Africa , Splunk Inc , said monitoring carbon footprint and creating a sustainability scorecard is always a tough ask . “ However , today sustainability is a much-highlighted issue with many companies scrutinising it at board level . Splunk has taken a leadership role in this arena with the release of a new toolkit which is a value add to our ‘ data to everything ’ platform . Splunk customers can use this toolkit to create visibility of their carbon footprint enabling them to investigate , detect and diagnose issues which in turn empowers with the information necessary to make better decisions around the environmental sustainability of their businesses ,” said Ruinaard .

Francois van Hirtum , Chief Technology Officer , Obscure Technologies , said through the company ’ s strategic partnership with Splunk , South African manufacturers can achieve decarbonisation targets in many different ways by leveraging the power of data . “ Improved operational efficiency and enhanced visibility of the actual carbon footprint of businesses can be achieved producing an informed platform for better decision making ,” said van Hirtum . •

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