Our thinking

Going to extremes

21 July, 2023

If you’re following the news, or have headed overseas for your holiday, you’ll know that much of the world is currently grappling with extreme weather events. From severe heat and wildfires to heavy rains and flash flooding, the effects of climate change are being felt keenly across the US, Europe, and Asia. (To our readers based in these locations: we hope you’re keeping safe.)  

With temperature records being broken on a regular basis, this is the new reality. Climate change is making extreme weather events not only more likely, but also more severe. As Vox recently put it: “there’s no such thing as a disaster-resistant place anymore”. If you need further proof, just look to the insurance companies, who are increasingly pulling out of areas they deem high risk and divesting of reinsurance branches to reduce exposure to natural disaster. 

Businesses should take heed. A world wracked by fire and floods, or even just extreme heat, presents innumerable challenges to business continuity, including supply chain disruptions, damage to physical infrastructure, and, of course, the costs of insurance (if you manage to obtain it). But there’s also scope for thinking further down the value chain. How can businesses extend care to customers and employees during extreme events?  

Whether it’s protecting workers from heat or helping customers to be more resilient to floods, there is a lot that businesses can do to support stakeholders in this new world (perhaps, as public health officers have suggested, it’s even encouraging them to embrace the siesta). And with government responses looking insufficient in the face of extreme weather, it’s imperative that businesses step up to the plate.  

It’s getting hot in here (and wet, and dry, and stormy…) While we can’t control the weather, we can control how we react to it. For the sake of all our lives and livelihoods, we must.  

By Louise Podmore