I'm filming this from Morocco, halfway through a two-week family trip with Intrepid Travel. And what I'm hearing from farmers, guides, and rural communities out here is stopping me cold.
Morocco is responsible for 0.18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Less than two-tenths of one percent of the problem. It ranks 6th in the global Climate Change Performance Index, ahead of most of Europe. And yet it has just come through six years of protracted drought, its driest year in eight decades, and per capita water availability has collapsed from 2,500 cubic metres per person in the 1960s to under 600 today. The international scarcity threshold is 1,000.
In this video I cover what Morocco is actually doing on climate, which is genuinely impressive; what is happening to rural smallholder communities who depend on rainfed agriculture with no safety net or subsidy; the structural inequality underneath the headlines, including water-intensive export crops expanding while wells run dry; and what all of this means for the businesses we work with at 51toCarbonZero.
Average cereal yields fell by nearly 40% in drought years. The World Bank projects 1.9 million people will migrate from rural to urban areas by 2050. That migration has already started. We're driving through villages where it is visible.
The organisations we work with that take carbon strategy seriously are making a material difference to that trajectory. Not as a moral gesture. Because cumulative emissions have cumulative costs, and those costs land on specific people in specific places.
If you want to understand what net zero actually means beyond the reporting framework, this is a good place to start.
Find out more about how we work with organisations at https://www.51tocarbonzero.com Explore our referral programme for sustainability professionals: https://www.51tocarbonzero.com/referral/
#ClimateChange #NetZero #Sustainability #CarbonAccounting #ClimateJustice
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UPCOMING WEBINAR: The Scope 3 Blind Spot: What Your Supplier Data Isn't Telling You
Scope 3 emissions are often the biggest contributor to an organisation’s carbon footprint, yet many businesses are making decisions based on incomplete, outdated or estimated supplier data.
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I'm Will Richardson, Head of Ecosystems at 51toCarbonZero and a sustainability advisor with 25 years in the field. I founded Green Element in 2004 and spent two decades building it into one of Europe's most respected sustainability consultancies before it merged with 51toCarbonZero in November 2025.
Climate action is both an obligation and an opportunity, and that's the thread running through everything I write here. I co-created Compare Your Footprint, carbon accounting software recognised as a key player in the Global Carbon Accounting Software Market, and I'm a Fellow of IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist.
Each week, I break down what's actually happening in sustainability: the data, the regulation, the greenwash worth calling out, and the practical steps businesses can take right now. No jargon, no doom-mongering, just clear thinking for people who need to make real decisions.
I also host the Sustainability Solved podcast with Charlie Luxton, 200+ episodes and counting, where we talk to the people building the solutions.
Based in Scotland. Writing for business leaders who want sustainability to make commercial sense, not just moral sense.
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