Businesses today are operating in an environment where a discussion about climate risk must be front and center. The question is: How do companies move from simply being aware of climate risks, to taking real, strategic action? In this episode, we discuss regional climate risks, data technology, and the forward-looking planning critical for building resilience.
Businesses today are operating in an environment where a discussion about climate risk must be front and center. The question is: How do companies move from simply being aware of climate risks, to taking real, strategic action? In this episode, we discuss regional climate risks, data technology, and the forward-looking planning critical for building resilience.
We hear from co-host for this episode, Laura Kirkvold, Sustainability Working Group Leader with Inogen Alliance and Consultant with Antea Group USA, James Hughes, Technical Director for Climate and Resilience and Strategic Consulting at Tonkin + Taylor, Audrey Beattie, Senior Manager in the Sustainability Practice at Antea Group USA, and Michalis Lellis, Water and Environmental Specialist at Baden Consulting.
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Guest Quotes
“Uncertainty is the key thing we're talking about here. For a business, when we've got a range of different plausible futures, the question is how do you make good decisions in a world that's rapidly changing?... We use the word non-stationary where we've largely experienced a stationary climate in the past and things are rapidly changing." - James
“The key is being able to connect climate-related risks to business impacts and understanding, how does a risk actually show up in their operations and also critically in their supply chain?” - Audrey
“The integration of real-time environmental monitoring with predictive modeling, supported by predictive telemetry and remote control systems is a game changer. It allows companies to track conditions like air quality, water availability and temperature in real time, while forecasting emerging risk…it enables businesses to act proactively, preventing damage, reducing downtime, and protecting both communities and the environment.” - Michalis
“Scenario analysis is now a tool that is newer to us and available to us, but so few companies are actually leveraging that information." - Laura
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Time Stamps
(02:04) Regional climate challenges
(07:29) Translating risk assessments into strategies
(11:01) Resilience in 2025 and beyond
(25:54) Tools and methods for climate risk assessment
(37:37) Phil and Laura’s key takeaways
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Sponsor copy
Rethinking EHS is brought to you by the Inogen Alliance. Inogen Alliance is a global network of 70+ companies providing environment, health, safety and sustainability services working together to provide one point of contact to guide multinational organizations to meet their global commitments locally. Visit http://www.inogenalliance.com/ to learn more.
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Links
Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phildillard/
Laura on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-kirkvold-4464b3a/
James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hughes-3b337524/
Michalis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michalis-lellis/
Audrey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-beattie-727446155/
Phil: [00:00:00] From rising sea levels and extreme weather events to regulatory pressures and shifting investor expectations, businesses today are operating in an environment where a discussion about climate risk must be front and center. But the question is, how do companies move from simply being aware of climate risks to taking real strategic action?
And what role do data technology and forward-looking planning play in building resilience that lasts?
Narrator: This is rethinking EHS where global goals meet local expertise to accelerate a resilient planet for all. We highlight practical solutions and bold strategies that drive change brought to you by Inogen Align.
Phil: I'm here with Laura Kirk, a consultant with Antia Group, USA sustainability working group leader at the Indigent Alliance and co-host of this episode. Great to have you with us, Laura.
Laura: Thanks so much, Phil. Uh, I'm really excited to join this discussion today. I'd like to get us started by introducing three [00:01:00] expert colleagues from across the INGEN Alliance Network.
Each of these individuals contribute unique depth of experience in climate strategy, risk assessment, and resilience planning. I'm gonna start first with our colleague James Hughes, who is the technical director for climate and Resilience and strategic consulting at Toon and Taylor in New Zealand. Also here today, I have a colleague that I've had the pleasure of working with Atta Group, USA for the past several years.
Audrey Beatty, a senior manager in our sustainability practice, and we are also very fortunate to have, uh, Michaela Les, who is a water and environmental specialist at Boden Consulting in Switzerland. With this group, we're going to explore how climate related risks are evolving across regions. Tools and strategies that companies can leverage to respond and why climate resilience is as much about opportunity as it is about risk management.[00:02:00]
Welcome to the discussion everyone. Thanks for joining us.
Phil: So can you help us a little bit? Um, it seems to me that climate risks look a little different depending on where you are. Different regions of the world have different problems, whether they're urban, rural, suburban, what have you? Can each of you share a recent project or challenge that you've worked on that highlights, uh, a regional climate risk in your area?
Michalis: Thank you. Thank you, Phil. Uh, recently I worked, uh, on environmental. You did dialing assessment for a last technology manufacturer, uh, facility. And uh, one of the key challenges was understanding how the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, particularly flooding. Could impact both operational continuity and compliance with environmental re regulations.
We examinate how climate change would intensify water related risk from flower damas to potential contamination incidents and combined, combined, uh, local climate data with long-term [00:03:00] planning scenarios. For me, it was rewarding to see how technical analysis could be translating into practical strategies that strengths resilience, protect natural resources, and contribute, uh, to the long term, uh, wellbeing both of the COVID of the local, uh, community.
Phil: Thanks a lot. Micha. Uh, James, can you share a little bit, I know you're down in New Zealand. Can you share a specific example of how you've, um, how you've identified some regional opportunities?
James: Most of New Zealand's economy is based on the primary sector in New Zealand. Uh, I live in a, a region called the Bay of Plenty, which is, uh, very focused on horticulture and forestry and a and a significant climate risk here has been extreme events that have caused, uh, large scale floods that have.
Um, generator, what's called slash and that is forestry waste that has entered the rivers and huge volumes. So we have not only big volumes of water, but huge volumes of timber and trees that come down the valleys and [00:04:00] effectively destroy infrastructure and communities, and it's actually become a real issue.
The economy versus community and the money that's generated through forestry, but also, uh, the impacts that, that is occurring. So it's something that the country is grappling with, but particularly in the region I'm in, it's a, it's a significant issue as well.
Phil: Interesting. So, if I'm hearing you right, too much water in the wrong place is usually a water problem as, as in, like in California it's how much water can we capture before the, the, the mudslides damage infrastructure by, I think is falling off of cliffs.
But this is one I'm actually. Physical debris coming down and destroying infrastructure. It's a different challenge of too much water. Exactly. Right. Yeah. And it's,
James: it's, they are exotic forests, if you like. They're not native forests. So the Pinus radiator that New Zealand has, you know, over the last a hundred years, decided to plant large areas of land, uh, to create, uh, exotic forests for export, and we export huge volumes of, of, [00:05:00] of timber around the world.
Phil: So, yeah, it's a problem. So solving one problem creates another, and then climate pro, climate change creates even another. Exactly, exactly. Thanks for sharing, James. Andre, anything that comes to mind for you?
Audrey: Yeah. Um, I worked with a beverage company in the US um, last year and they have a lot of manufacturing in the southeast, um, of the us.
And an interesting climate risk that came up for them was, um, tornado risk. And what was particularly interesting about that is, uh, the tornado alley in the US was, um, typically in the Great Plains and it's actually expanding eastward into the Southeast states. And so this company had not really had to grapple with tornado exposure before.
Um, but increasingly they are now having to, to grapple with this risk. And so it was really interesting and um, very, very highly regionally specific also.
Phil: I could imagine as a mechanical engineer, you think [00:06:00] about things that people didn't need to design for. Is there anything that stood out? Like, uh, you know, moving from the east coast to the west coast, there are buildings in the east coast and west coast that are not concerned about earthquakes, but they're having earthquakes now.
So brick and stone buildings are at risk. Uh, did you see something similar in the hurricane design? Uh, that's a, that's a mechanical engineering issue, or is it something even more than that?
Audrey: Yeah. Yeah, I think it is. I think, um, again, taking that kind of, that tornado example, I think there are areas of the US that haven't had to deal with.
Um, high speed wind before that are now having to deal with high speeded wind. And so the buildings are designed for that and now they're having to go through building retrofits. Um, and there have also been impacts on insurance coverage for buildings who are in place. Since you are experiencing this risk now and, and have it had it in the past, um, I think wildfire risk is a similar, has a similar dynamic communities that haven't [00:07:00] historically had.
Wildfires or the wildfires have been more easily constrained to the forest environment and they're moving into more urban environment, um, or encroaching upon the urban environment. Um, there are building retrofits and, and changes happening, um, on that front as well.
Laura: Thanks for sharing that, Audrey. I, I wanna shift over to you on that note, James.
Um, you have such valuable experience with national risk assessments in New Zealand. Uh, could you share a little bit more with us about how you translate those insights, um, from the risk assessments into actionable strategies that businesses can, can then, um, implement and run with?
James: An interesting place to start with this is that risk assessments are so context specific and I, and framing the question and problem you're trying to solve is something that, uh, is worth spending a lot of time in.
So yes, I've been involved with the National risk Assessment, um, that as well as regional and local scale and [00:08:00] risk assessments for, for businesses. Uh, specifically our national assessment in New Zealand covered five domains, so the built environment. The natural environment and ecosystems, uh, the economy in various primary sectors, um, human health and social impacts, and finally, governance.
So all of those provide insights to businesses at different levels. Uh, but up to a point. And I think that's probably the key thing here is the national level assessments are. By definition, quite high level. So they give insights to businesses, but it doesn't mean an individual business or an organization shouldn't dive deep into their own impacts.
So I think there's a nice connection there between the direction and impacts at a national level, but what a business individually can learn from that and apply to their own risk assessments as well.
Laura: I wanna shift to water risk Mikala. You have a lot of experience in that, in that area. Could you tell us a little bit more about your work with water safety and industrial risk?
How do you [00:09:00] see water related risks evolving, um, in light of climate change?
Michalis: Water related risks are becoming more complex as climate change, uh, accelerates, uh, where we're already seeing, uh, how the same region can experience prolonged droughts and extreme flooding within just a few years or even within the same year.
This is affect both the quantity and the quality of available water changes in the barrier, and, uh, rainfall patterns can, uh, degrade water quality leading to increased pollution. And spring the, the spring of water. And the speed of waterborne diseases in mountains, in mountainous regions, regions, and climate change can also affect slope stability, for example, through the solving of.
Perro and decreased occurrence of extreme water events. This is not only impacts the water system, but also heightens the risk of, uh, land lines and rock falls, which can fit in both communities and, uh, critical infrastructure from industrial risk, uh, perspec perspective. Uh, flooding [00:10:00] can overwhelm, uh, wastewater, uh, systems can lead to contamination incidents while droughts can, uh, disrupt cooling processes, supplies, su supply chains, and, uh, production schedules climate change.
Essentially, amplifi amplifies existing vulnerabilities, making them more unpredictable.
Phil: So as you talk about risk assessments. I was listening to what James and Micha, which you both said, and I've thought about how to like zoom out a little bit and take a strategic picture. What I think I'm hearing is governments wanna understand the risk assessments for their country, for the region, so that they can understand how to be, uh, what investments they need to make, um, what partnerships they need to do with the private sector, what things they need to do to be able to actually make their.
Their country, a safe place to work, an effective place to work, have the right sort of investments on infrastructure as things are changing around them. [00:11:00] If that's the case, how do we think about resilient companies or strategy in 2025 and beyond, given some of the things that we're thinking about now? I think, Audrey, you looked at this a little bit from.
The carbon perspective, like carbon accounting to decarbonization. And I'm wondering if we could start with you and maybe cycle through where, what resilience looks like in this context. How do you take a strategic, uh, assessment of what's going on in the region, you know, like you talked about with hurricanes, and how do you turn that into a, a resilience plan for a, for a company?
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Audrey: I think where companies need to go with the. Vast amounts of information that there are about the, all of the different risk exposures that might exist in a given region. And especially when you think about how global most companies are and how global their supply chains are, they're not just confined to one single place.
Um, most of the time the key [00:12:00] is being able to connect. Risks to climate related risks to business impacts and understanding how does a risk actually show up in their either operations and also critically in their supply chain. And so being able to distill down from the large range of risk into. Um, actual events that translate into either a business interruption or a cost increase or something along those lines.
And one way that you can do that is actually by looking back into past damages or past interruptions, and so understanding from your business history. Um, what type of events have translated into a supply chain interruption and can you work your way back and figure out what event actually triggered that?
So that's one way to do it. I think another way to do it is following your existing enterprise risk management. I, I think, you know, risk management is not new climate related. Um, that kind of, [00:13:00] um. Angle to risk management may be a little bit newer to some, but general business risk management is not new.
So I think applying those, those principles, um, but with the lens of climate risk, um, and recognizing how those risks might change moving forward, um, is what I would recommend to companies to try and take that again, that really large amount of data that's available, especially at, you know, from governments, um, and actually translating it to your business and creating a plan around that.
Phil: Can we double click on that for a second before I give it to Laura and the, and the others to, to go deeper because I'm curious, I mean. One way to look at insurance industry does that You look at historic risks and you compare and project them to the future. You use, uh, you use tables and, and, um, historic history to, to predict the future.
But in a rapidly changing future or in a place where you don't have accurate historical data, 'cause you haven't been there before. How do you think, how should corporations think [00:14:00] about preparing for resilience when. You know, you have three, 500 year floods in a 10 year period, for example. Or you're operating in areas where, because of something that's going on, maybe like what McLay talked about.
The, the historical data doesn't seem to be relevant or you don't have it for your business before, 'cause you've never put a data center in a certain part of the world. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Audrey: Yeah. I'm really glad you brought that up and that's where scenario analysis is so important and a really pivotal part of climate risk assessment is actually saying we don't know what the future could look like.
The future could be a high emissions. Uh, world. It could be a low emissions world, it could be somewhere in the middle. And all of these risks, um, and how they manifest themselves. At future time horizons are going to change. And so, um, that's where I think scenario analysis, um, is actually incredibly valuable for companies, especially if you can kind of drill down into what are your [00:15:00] most critical risk exposures and what are your most critical aspects of the value chain, um, to allow for a focused assessment.
Because again, in, in this world of. You can choose from any number of, of scenarios you can choose from any number of data sets, really being able to zoom into what's important for your business, um, and your supply chain is what's gonna be, um, what is going to enable that type of analysis to be business relevant.
But I would also invite James. To share his insights on this too, as I'm, I'm sure you, you have some,
James: I can definitely respond to that. Thanks. Little uh, Audrey Uncertainty is probably the key thing we're talking about here for a business when we've got a range of different plausible futures, and you've talked about scenario analysis.
The question is how do you make good decisions in a world that's rapidly changing and you really have. You, you have an idea where it's heading, but there's, there is, uh, there's a lot of uncertainty and, and we, we use the word non-stationary where we've [00:16:00] largely experienced stationary climate in the past and things are rapidly changing.
So you've spoken about scenario analysis. I, I think the other thing is, um. Looking at what, say if you're an organization that owns physical assets, thinking about resilience in the context of both your physical assets that you might own, but also the organization and what a resilient organization looks like.
Um, on the asset side, you can think about things like building robustness, building redundancy into your supply chains or into your, your systems, and thinking about concepts like safe failure if you have. You know that something will fail. How can you design or, uh, build something that fails in a controlled manner that you can restore really quickly and get up and running quickly after an event?
Flipping to the organizational side, I think when you look at organizations that are. More resilient. They have attributes such as strong leadership and culture, [00:17:00] attention to risk management at the highest level within the organization. Um, they have attributes around change readiness, situational awareness, and often strong networks.
Again, if you take an infrastructure example, how well are they connecting with their sale? Uh, Sheila, uh, Michael, you were talking about water companies or the water sector. How is the water sector connected to the electricity providers and the telecommunication providers to make sure that all those complex interdependent systems, uh, function as best they can to support each other?
So I think there's a few, few other angles there.
Laura: So in light of that, I mean, what are some of the common pitfalls that companies might face when they're trying to develop climate resilience strategies?
James: So common pitfalls. Yeah, look, there are many, uh, I think I'd start with, um, probably a, a broad view that I think the more we can elevate climate risk and resilient conversations to executive and board levels, the better because even it gets the attention it deserves and the, [00:18:00] these are, you know, really, um, present risks, but they're also exacerbated over the long term.
So we, we've been speaking about that the next point. Is probably, and and Audrey's mentioned this is considering not just the physical risks of climate change, but the transition risks as well. And a lot of organizations that might have a. Higher exposure to the transition risk, which is defined as, um, simply the risk that might emerge as you transition from today into a low carbon future.
So that might be the change of technologies or change in policy in, in, in the New Zealand context. We've had a new government, so we head off strong focus on climate policy and now that's disappearing quickly, unfortunately. So the opposite could happen in three years time. And if you're not. Aware of that and attuned to those potential changes as an organization, that that presents a real risk.
And then lastly, one idea is given the uncertainty, consider [00:19:00] climate risk improvements or climate resilient improvements at the same time as you're making other investments in your organization. So if you're renewing assets or you're making big investment decisions, that's a good time to think about building.
Robustness or redundancy, for example, into your, into your organization. 'cause often these investments can be large, particularly around big decarbonization or big resilience improvements. So using. Taking, taking an opportunistic lens to, to those investments is, is something businesses can think about.
Laura: You mentioned with those transitional risks, um, there's some consideration about policy changes, um, and regulatory requirements, which is a nice segue into my next question.
How do you integrate regulatory compliance with long-term sustainability goals, particularly in high risk industries?
Michalis: Uh, for me, regulatory compliance is not just about meeting, uh, minimal, minimal legal requirements. It's the foundation of [00:20:00] building long-term sustainability in high risk, uh, industries.
Compliance with environmental safety standards, for example, around water quality, wa waste management or air emissions can be aligned with the company's broader. ESG targets IT compliance as a starting point for continuous. Improvement, often going beyond legal, uh, thresholds by applying best available techniques.
This means, uh, in the greater climate risk assessment are doubling the most efficient and low impact technologies, investing in infrastructure, pro upgrades, and, uh, embedding nature-based solution where possible. Moreover, I conduct, uh, detailed gap analysis against. Applicable environmental health and safety legislation and relevant, uh, international standards to identify improvement opportunities by combine best available techniques with, uh, re regulatory compliance companies, uh, can reduce immediate risks, [00:21:00] stay ahead of future regulation, and actively contribute to decarbonization resilience and long-term environmental performance.
Phil: As I think about what you just said. It leads me to a, to a question, uh, about how companies actually work with their key stakeholders on these issues. 'cause if you take a step back, businesses are dealing with several challenges right now, the short-term versus long-term needs or climate goals. The changing environments of the changing regulatory environments because of the, the swing from left to right, um, and consumers perceptions or key stakeholders perceptions of how important this is.
Some consumers still care about these things a lot and will make decisions about the products and services they use based on them, and also may ha, may matter to investors who choose to stay the course versus switch in a different direction. Or employees who choose to work with one company or another.
So in that context. Of dealing with how these companies are addressing these challenges of [00:22:00] managing this, these issues for stakeholders. Can you talk a little bit about some of the, some of the things that you see that make a difference?
Audrey: I think there can be a misconception that, um, pursuing sustainability goals or pursuing climate resilience is at odds with other more traditional forms.
Business performance, there is a tension there. I, I don't think it's fair to say that there's absolutely no tension between setting a greenhouse gas reduction target and continuing to grow your business year over year in that business as usual lays. So there's always, there, there is definitely truthful tension there.
But I think, um, I think in reality there are many ways that you can pursue climate resiliency. You can pursue decarbonization. You can pursue stakeholder engagement or, um, supply chain engagement, all in ways that still benefit your more traditional bottom lines as a business as well. If you can find a way to be strategic and get all of those goals to work in concert together, [00:23:00] um, that is what creates a truly resilient business.
One example, an easy example is energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is good for the environment. It's good for your carbon emissions. It's also good for your bottom line costs. It's also good for your climate resilience. If you have less resilience on the grid than some of these events that cause power outages or increase costs and utilities, um, are going to be less of an impact to you.
So that is one example of something that, um, kind of ticks multiple boxes, um, and, and makes you stronger across many different aspects.
Phil: Thanks for the summary and um, thanks for the example James.
James: Yeah. One thing that businesses can think about when we've spoken about scenario planning and scenario tools, something adjacent to that is an idea of having flexible pathway planning, and that's can be called also dynamic adaptive pathway planning.[00:24:00]
It's a tool that's been developed largely. I think for the community space where you've got a lot of uncertainty, say in the coastal of or environment with sea level rise, et cetera. But it's increasingly, I think, showing promise in the corporate arena as well. In fact, our own companies used it in a non climate, seems to map out potential futures and how, um, potential trigger points so that the, the core concept is you.
Develop different options that, that you could employ in the future, but you dunno when you might transfer to one of those options or adopt those options. So you set trigger points which aren't, uh, points in time. They are the occurrence of a particular event in the future that you've thought about. When that event occurs, we're going to, um, press play on this particular investment.
So it allows. Uh, it's a good methodology for thinking about things robustly early on, but then having flexibility in the
Phil: future to change direction. [00:25:00] Super. It's like taking the strategy, developing a plan or a playbook, developing, developing understanding of when that play is going to work, what trigger conditions would actually you would use it, then being prepared to use it so that you're not caught flat-footed.
That sounds, uh, pretty smart. Uh, mical. Um, anything you would add to that?
Michalis: That's a great point. Uh, I would like to add that customers, especially younger generation, are increasingly drawn to brands that, uh, demonstrate environmental responsibility and, uh, working with stakeholders effectively, uh, starts with mapping who they are from local communities and employees to investors, supply chains, PR partners, understanding the priorities and concerns.
I believe that, uh, successful investment is, uh, based on transparency, active listening, and providing clear evidence-based information.
Laura: I wanna move now to, um, tools or methods that companies might leverage [00:26:00] knowing that there are still quite a number of companies out there that are really just getting started on their climate transition plan or planning, um, identification of risks. Audrey, maybe you could tell us a little bit more about, um.
Innovative tools or methods that you've used, um, to support clients with climate related risks?
Audrey: Yeah,
Laura: thank you. We've built
Audrey: an internal tool that we use to help clients assess their client related risks. And the way that tool works is we. Leverage a number of different sources of third party data, so it's all publicly available.
Clients can kind of go back into those, uh, databases and see how we came to the conclusions we came to. But what's innovative about that is our tool, um, takes physical risk data from a couple of spots. It takes transition risk data from a couple of spots, and then combines all of that onto sort of a shared scale for risk assessment.
So you can directly compare. Risks against each other that are coming from [00:27:00] different sources of information. And I think that's really important because it is difficult to find tools that look at both physical and transition risk, um, or that map things against similar. Metrics so that they are comparable.
And so we found that to be really, really helpful. Um, and I think we've also found that it's helpful because it's right size to what companies need now. So a lot of companies really just need that first cut screening assessment to identify hotspots. So they don't need 1,000,001 outputs. They don't need 20 different scenarios.
Um, right now, at least that's always the first step for us. And then also recognizing it's not going to be a one size fits all. Um, every company is going to have unique, um, aspects of their value chain and unique aspects of their business operations. And you need to look at risks a little bit differently depending on what industry you're in or.
What company you're working with. And [00:28:00] so kind of combining that, that tool approach with then a more, um, one-on-one scaled approach, um, for whatever makes sense for that company. So that's what we've been using internally. Um, and similar tools also exist outside of Integrity US as well. So, um, but we found our approach to work pretty well.
Laura: So given that you're doing this screening with such robust, uh, and varied data sets, and also knowing in light of the fact that climate change related risks are evolving at the same time, um, how often do you typically recommend that an organization might wait before they do updates to their risk assessment or revisit those
Audrey: risks?
It depends on the risk as dynamic as physical risk is, it's not changing with quite the level of what I would call step change as transition risk does, which is a bit more, um, you know, uh, new administration comes in step change and transition risk, um, [00:29:00] can happen. It depends on how dynamic your business businesses and are you, um, you know, are you shifting.
Regions in which you operate, are you shifting your supply chain around very often. And so I wouldn't redo an assessment any earlier than two years after you just did one. And I, you know, wouldn't wait longer than maybe five years. So in that two to five year range. And then I think again, it depends on the company and their risk exposures and their value chain.
Laura: GIS and data visualization, that's also really critical, um, to take a look at as we're thinking about these, uh, risks, climate related risks. Michelis, could you just tell us a little bit more about, um, how spatial data might help businesses to better understand or plan for environmental related risks?
Michalis: Uh, JIS is a powerful, uh, decision support tool that companies can use through the entire lifecycle of their operation, even before, of, uh, even before a facility is built during, during site location.
For example, multi-criteria, special [00:30:00] analysis, can ize, hazard maps, environmental constraints, infra infrastructure, proximity and regulat and regulatory requirements to create special, uh, to create special that. And regulatory, re, and regulatory requirements to identify the most suitable, uh, and low cost and low risk location.
Modern JS technology allows companies to create spatial databases, perform complex geospatial ANA analysis, and visualize data on interactive maps. By degraded satellite images with other spatial data, we can monitor land use changes, detect deforest deforestation, assess the impact of drugs, and track biodiversity loss over time.
Satellite images also supports precision agriculture by optimizing irrigation. And 30 liter use, reducing waste, uh, wa water waste, and uh, minimizing environmental impacts. Js, uh, also plays a key role in a climate [00:31:00] change mitigation by the defined green greenhouse gas emission sources, measuring carbon footprints and designing targeted taxon strategies directly supporting ERG and net zero ports.
Finally, uh, the final, the visual, the visual and interactive nature of GIS makes it, it's a powerful, uh, communicative tool by creating immersive data and visualization and place based, uh, narratives, business, and, uh, can convey complex environmental risk to regulators, investor and local communities turning all data in.
Actionable and, uh, impactful, uh, climate strategies. GS platforms can also support stakeholder engagement by enabling journal and external surveys, including online question areas to gather local knowledge, perception of risk, and feedback on proposed adaptation measures. This integration of data and community input helps ensure the strategies are both [00:32:00] technically and socially accepted.
Laura: Thanks, MIUs. It sounds like, uh, the GIS data visualization, it can really help to inform some of those physical climate risks that Audrey mentioned earlier that companies might look to investigate further as they're trying to better understand what impacts might exist within their value chain, and hearing a lot about scenario analysis as well and the importance of that.
That's something that. As I've talked to clients, I've heard, you know, a lot of them are, they still have a high level of uncertainty around climate scenario analysis and how they might leverage that and best integrate it into their strategic planning. James, I'm gonna tap you for this one. Could you just walk us through how companies might leverage climate scenarios to guide their investment decisions and, and infrastructure planning?
James: It's probably fair to say that scenario analysis is still something that in, in the climate space is relatively new. Um, scenario analysis isn't new. In general, it's been part of corporate [00:33:00] strategy and planning for. Many decades, uh, in the climate space, it's emerged through the TCFD and, and disclosure requirements.
I think it, it is beginning to offer, you know, benefits in the ways that we've been talking about where we've got debunk uncertainty and we can think about, uh. Plausible futures and the way it's being applied in, in my experience in New Zealand, it's a process of developing, uh, storylines and narratives through a structured process that, uh, paint a picture of the world in the future that leaders and businesses can then, uh, sit back, review and really challenge their thinking on if this played out in this way.
What would we do and what would be the triggers and the, the, the newspaper headlines that might emerge telling us that that scenario was unfolding. The last thing I'll add is, I guess a little [00:34:00] caveat to this is that I would say 99% of the effort that's happening at the moment is on creating scenarios and probably 1% or less on actually using them for strategic insight.
And that's a real challenge I think we're, we need to start using them for, for, you know, decision making and, and,
Phil: and building resilience. We're gonna move to the rapid fire round. I got three questions, one for each of you. So let's go with the first one. What is one piece of advice you have for companies that are just starting their climate journey?
You wanna take this one, Audrey?
Audrey: My advice to companies would be, um, to find, finds their why. Why are they pursuing corporate sustainability? I think a lot of companies, um. Try to keep up with peers, and I think that can be a great initial motivating factor. But I think it can also inherently be a moving goalpost, which can make you [00:35:00] unfocused and constantly chasing and spread your probably very small sustainability team, spread them even more thin.
So I would say find your driver. Make sure it aligns with what's material for your business and for your industry. And then if those are aligned, then make a plan and commit to it and don't feel. That you have to go chase the next thing. Be confident in what your goal is and and commit to that.
Phil: Super.
Thanks. The next question, James or mcCal, what is one tool or resource you recommend for staying ahead of climate risks?
James: I can offer one tool, which I've been using a little bit lately. It's, it was built in New Zealand and people can look it up. It's called Climate Wise and it's a, uh, free tool online that is for small and medium enterprises, and it's a paired down version of how to step through climate risk assessment and build an adaptation plan.
Really helpful. It's got great resources, videos and
Phil: tools that you can [00:36:00] download. Climate wise sounds amazing. Okay, Mika, you're on the hot seat. So what is one innovation or trend that you're excited about in climate strategy?
Michalis: I believe that, uh, the integration of realtime environmental monitoring with predictive modeling supported by advanced telemetry and remote control system is a game changer.
It allows, it allows companies to track condition, like air quality, water availability, atory in real time while forecasting emerging risk. Coupled with automated early warning systems, exceeding critical limits in critical risk factors, it enable business to act, uh, proactively preventing damages, reducing downtime, and pro protecting both communities and the environment.
Phil: That's such an important topic. Can you just gimme like 30 more seconds? What is so important about having this in real time versus what they've got now?
Michalis: Combining real time [00:37:00] environmental monitoring with, uh, particularly modeling, supporting with advanced telemetry and remote controls, uh, we can manage climate related risk.
These tools. Uh, lets companies continuously monitor a k parameters, such as air, air, quality, water, availability, the better tool, while, while also anticipating potential fleets.
Phil: Well, thank you very much everyone for your gift of time and treasure. We really appreciate the insights you shared and hope that our audience really does too.
So, for audio only listeners, I'm here with Lauder. We're doing, uh, a little recap about what we heard from the conversation and what really stood out. So I think that it was really interesting that they could talk about. Such technical details, right? The risk assessments, the tools, the metrics, and also how in every region there are significant changes to the [00:38:00] environment that weren't necessarily the typical environmental risks that, that people were talking about.
They weren't talking about, you know, fear of wildfire and carbon and cataclysms. They were just talking about real experiences that drove real challenges to businesses that you, that you really need to think about in terms of the continuity of your business or the profitability of your business, or the safe operation of your business.
So it was very practical, very, even though it was very, very technical and I found it interesting how they were really. Trying, encouraging people to take the insights that they have from something that might have been a strategic exercise or something that's nice to have in the past and bring it together as something that's part of a, a business imperative that they have today.
Right? That's something that matters in their ability to sustain today, to be profitable today, and to be competitive in the future. Would you agree with that?
Laura: Absolutely. So and related to those physical [00:39:00] related risks, I agree there are a lot of. Companies, individuals out there that when we think of climate related risks, we might first gravitate towards topics like, you know, the temperature, outside the heat, um, fires, things of that nature.
But these experts really brought to mind, um, the relationship between climate and flooding as well, and, and how, um, that increased water, um, could lead to also related risk like. Landslides, um, that could bring destruction to certain operations within the value chain and how we might start thinking about those.
Um, and then tying back, tying those risks back into our risk management where they might not have lived previously. Um, but now in light of, um. How climate change is evolving and impacting us all. We need to, you know, be mindful of those risks, um, and really consider, um, appropriate tactics or triggers like James kept mentioning of, of how we can take action on those really strategically when certain moments arise.
Yeah.
Phil: Mindful is a start, but like then thinking about [00:40:00] implications. So let's say I'm a logging company in New Zealand, right? I was fine when rain was normal, but if I get the same amount of rain in a different place, or I get a significant amount of rain because there is an extreme event, am I now more liable because I have an invasive species problem or because I have a, a waste problem that, you know what, I used to let my, the cuttings stay there.
But if the companies go down and wreck a village, is the village gonna see? Is it a risk? Is it something that's unprecedented that I don't have to think about it? Mm-hmm. How significant is that risk versus mitigating the risk or showing? At least I've tried to mitigate that risk by actually doing something differently and managing the cuttings after, after I've cut down trees.
I'm no, I'm no forester how to, I don't know how to run. I could think about the significance of how that potential risk could hit my bottom line and that that how I might want to change a little operation because I'm aware of the situation that's around me. It's one that really comes to mind, and I think there are a number of others that we uncovered during the course of the [00:41:00] conversation.
Laura: What you brought to my mind just now. Also, as we heard from Audrey, you know, companies are starting to think about how their operations, we, they might wanna think about constructing them differently based on those environmental or climate related risks that are manifesting differently than they have in the past, such as what she mentioned about tornado alley.
But then, you know, there's also certain types of risks that may be harder to mitigate against, like sea level rise. So, so what's the trigger for that In my operations? You know, if, if I have a building that's in a particularly a risky area with respect to sea level rise, then at what point would I wanna even just move that operation within my value chain to a new location?
Phil: Just to riff on that a little bit too, you made me think about the data and insights that you have available, right? If someone in the past could say, I didn't know that this was an issue, or I couldn't have seen this coming, but I now have the ability in real time to see. What's happening to see that, that I've created a problem [00:42:00] because of an emissions problem or that weather is coming, or the significant impacts of similar weather that has happened recently.
You could say, we could never know exactly what's gonna happen, but we could have contingencies in place and be able to, to, to, um, prepare to them and respond to them, and the significance of what that means for leadership. What that means for workers, for attracting the right type of people who might actually take ownership of these things and prevent something from becoming a catastrophe because they have the information and they are empowered to be innovative and they're solving a critical business issue.
I think there's more information, um, and more actionable data that then can come from this sort of work. If people think about it as how I need to operate in a rapidly changing environment. Regardless of why it is rapidly changing.
Laura: Now I feel like what you just mentioned that that makes this discussion even, uh, very meaningful, very important, um, because of what [00:43:00] James mentioned also about how, you know, scenario analysis is now a tool that is newer to us.
And available to us. But so few companies are actually leveraging that information. It's really important that companies start to, to take notice and, and understand better how they can leverage these tools, how they can leverage this robust amount of data that is available to us to really make actionable strategies that are gonna make their businesses more resilient.
Phil: That seems like a great call to action. Well, thanks so much, Laura for, um, co-hosting this episode. It's been great to work with you.
Laura: Thanks so much, Phil. Next week we're releasing a bonus episode of a follow-up conversation I had with James Hughes. Uh, we're gonna be diving into climate resilience in the healthcare space, so tune back in for that.
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