Six Ways Companies Can Prepare For A New Mission: Climate Disasters

In the United States alone, there have been more than 15 confirmed weather/climate disasters so far this year according to the National Centers for Climate Information. In response, some corporations are stepping up efforts to help people and businesses impacted by climate change in ways that were never anticipated.

For example, before Hurricane Idalia made landfall last week near Keaton Beach in Florida, Verizon activated two emergency operations centers, placed 100 mobile generators on standby and moved satellite and mobile wireless assets into the area to manage network impacts and support recovery efforts. Over the next week, the company’s Emergency Resource Center provided daily Network and Frontline updates to help residents, local businesses, first responders and public safety agencies.

Climate change disasters are on the rise around the world and every business needs a plan to minimize its impact on the environment, support the needs of employees and residents, and ensure the continuity of business.

Climate change is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, resulting in widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people, according to the United Nations. In addition to Hurricane Idalia, communities in Hawaii, Oregon Washington, Nova Scotia, Québec and the Northwest Territories faced large-scale evacuation and major damage from forest fires this summer. While it remains uncertain if climate change is causing more hurricanes, evidence from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions suggests that the intensity and severity of hurricanes will continue to increase.

Those most at risk of climate disasters caused by hurricanes and wildfires are the poorest people and racialized populations. For example, Black Americans are projected to face higher impacts of climate change according to The EPA’s Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the United States: A Focus on Six Impact Sectors. “The impacts of climate change that we are feeling today, from extreme heat to flooding to severe storms, are expected to get worse, and people least able to prepare and cope are disproportionately exposed,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.

In this context, corporate leaders are facing a new set of questions related to how their businesses are responding to the impacts of climate change on society. How can we best respond to immediate, and unforeseen climate disasters? What is our business and moral responsibility for addressing the unfair impact of climate change on populations that are already vulnerable? What is the business case for investing more money, resources and time?

While this is new territory for corporations, recent actions taken by Walmart and Verizon in response to Hurricane Idalia demonstrate the importance of creating and maintaining a strategic approach that links climate change objectives and social impact priorities with the operational capacity to deploy support at a moment’s notice.

In advance of Hurricane Idalia, Walmart teams worked to ensure shelves were stocked with essential products and merchandise. As Idalia hit, the company’s Emergency Operations Center and its teams in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina checked in on the safety of associates, customers and members. The company then worked closely with local leaders and first responders to assess the needs of those affected by the hurricane and coordinated with nonprofits to make food, showers and laundry available at stores in Florida and Georgia. In addition to these efforts, Walmart, Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation committed $1.25 million to support nonprofits helping with cleanup and recovery efforts in vulnerable communities.

These initiatives are backed up by a strategic commitment to sustainability. “We must all take urgent, sustained action to reverse nature loss and emissions before we reach a tipping point from which we will not recover,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Walmart, Inc. and President of the Walmart Foundation.

Verizon’s response to Hurricane Idalia is aligned with its commitment to investing in renewable energy and improving the energy efficiency of our networks and facilities, contributing to human prosperity through volunteerism and workforce development, and helping schools and small businesses succeed. Before Idaiia made landfall, Verizon’s Frontline Crisis Response Team was activated and deployed in areas just outside the storm’s predicted path. This positioned the team to access potentially impacted areas and coordinate with public safety agencies. During the storm, the company helped support first responders and search and rescue efforts by establishing two wireless Emergency Operations Centers and moving in mobile cell sites, generators and drones. After the storm subsided, Verizon donated $50,000 to Volunteer Florida and $25,000 to the Greater Valdosta United Way and to aid the Hurricane Idalia recovery effort.

Verizon also provided resources to support the needs of small and medium-sized businesses that were impacted by Hurricane Idalia. Specific advice from the company included: ensuring contact information is updated and readily available for all employees, including at-home information for remote workers and branch information for satellite offices, stress-testing primary and backup networks and shoring up any weak areas, and ensuring backup plans are in place in case work-from-home employees in a storm-impacted area have to evacuate their home or their home loses commercial power.

Both examples illustrate the need to create and maintain a strategic approach in advance of climate disasters that links climate change objectives and social impact priorities with the operational capacity to deploy support at a moment’s notice.

While very few businesses have the resources of Walmart and Verizon, here are six practical ways other companies prepare in advance of the next climate disaster.

1. Have a long-term plan to be a net zero business and ensure that your company is doing everything possible to minimize its carbon footprint in the short term.
2. Develop a business continuity plan to ensure employees on site and employees at home have enough water, food and other supplies to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours following a major emergency.
3. Develop a plan with supply chain partners to mitigate risk by making sure communication with partners is strong, making sure to have a buffer of products in reserve and having backup suppliers in case products are no longer available from primary sources.
4. Engage employees in co-creating a plan of action in the case of a climate disaster.
5. Lead with empathy and respond with compassion to employees and their families who are impacted directly. This includes considering additional paid leave, providing backup support at work and providing access to PTSD counselling and support.
6. Develop partnerships with local agencies such as the United Way that can provide support to communities during a crisis. This could include donations, employees participating as volunteers, and in-kind donations of essential products and services.

In addition to being a moral imperative, effectively responding to climate disasters is likely to enhance a corporation’s reputation and build trust and loyalty among stakeholders including employees, customers, business partners and local communities.

Verizon’s most recent message on Friday indicated that while there were longer any significant service gaps in storm-impacted areas efforts were far from mission complete. There will be many new climate-related missions ahead and there’s never been greater urgency for businesses to minimize their impact, prepare in advance and go above and beyond what is expected during a crisis.