ESG

Happy Earth Day!

Climate Change and Flooding

Floods are the most common and deadly natural disaster in the United States. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on extremes, it is clear that climate change has detectably influenced several of the water-related variables that contribute to floods, such as more powerful storms, increased rainfall, more dramatic snowmelt, and rising sea levels. To protect our cities, we need accurate, reliable, real-time monitoring of potential flood conditions that will enable us to prevent loss of life and costly property damage.

The devastation caused by wildfires makes headlines every year, and continues to worsen. Wildfires cause not only enormous humanitarian and economic hardship, but also have a massive environmental impact. In addition to destroying animal and plant life, wildfires emit between 5 and 30 tons of carbon per hectare. All of the land that burns globally in an average year adds 13 billion metric tons of additional carbon in the atmosphere annually, a significant contribution to climate change.

Semtech drives global change by creating innovative technology that facilitates a smarter, cleaner and more connected planet. Specifically, Internet of Things (IoT) applications leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® standard enable a wide range of solutions that improve efficiency and reduce waste.

Often, there is no warning of a natural disaster, and the consequences can be costly. After an event like a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood, or wildfire, communities need help to cover the costs for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure. The recently passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is helping communities do that, allotting $50 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund to help state and local governments respond to and recover from these major disasters or emergencies.

Semtech creates innovative and disruptive technology aimed at a smarter, more connected and sustainable planet. Specifically, innovative Internet of Things (IoT) applications leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® standard are enabling a wide range of solutions that increase efficiencies, reduce waste and remedy challenges facing our global community. These operations and applications align well with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate action, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, industry innovation and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production. As the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Officer, my role is to integrate the SDGs throughout the Company and raise awareness within the industry and among our global employees, customers and suppliers on the important contributions our products and technology provide in making our world a smarter, more sustainable planet.

Traditional utility operations are labor intensive and utilize subjective measurement by field personnel. Meters are often located in dense urban environments, indoors or even underground, and can be challenging—if not impossible—to reach by wireless technologies. By implementing a smart utilities infrastructure comprised of sensors and gateways utilizing the LoRaWAN® standard including streaming analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), utility and metering companies can collect real-time data , analyze it and act on insights from data no matter where it’s generated – enabling more efficient use of resources and personnel for streamlined operations. 

Hunger Decimates Communities Worldwide

World hunger is a catastrophic issue facing millions of people, and it is on the rise. Globally, around 690 million people go to bed hungry each night, and this figure is expected to increase to 840 million people by 2030.

Densely populated urban cities are now home to an incredible 83% of all people living in the United States. As more people flock to the opportunities and culture available in urban areas, the risk of flooding is rising dramatically. In fact, flooding resulted in $45.9 billion in economic losses in 2019 alone.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Semtech’s LoRa® devices have emerged as the building blocks enabling safe and secure workplace solutions – allowing companies to adopt and maintain practical facility re-entry systems.