Climate Resilience on a Warming Planet

Authors

• Julia Robinson

  Former Manager, Communications, BSR

This week, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology added violet to its repertoire.

With wildfires raging across the southern and eastern regions of the country, and a record-setting average high temperature clocking in just above 104°F (40°C), the bureau had to extend its color-coded temperature scale for next Monday’s forecast to accommodate possible temperatures above 122°F (50°C).

Also this week, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the contiguous United States. Nearly two-thirds of the country experienced drought conditions in September, 9.2 million acres burned in wildfires, and there were 19 named storms, according to NOAA’s “2012 by the Numbers."

Appropriately, Time magazine Senior Editor Bryan Walsh has predicted that “resilience” will be 2013’s environmental buzzword of choice. Walsh noted that business is taking notice: In the recently released World Economic Forum Global Risks of 2013, surveyed business leaders and other experts listed several risks related to climate change among top concerns.

In the latest issue of the New Yorker, Eric Klinenberg explored how cities can become more resilient to climate change and extreme weather (subscription required). Unsurprisingly, this included infrastructural investments, but Klinenberg also discussed the importance of cohesive neighborhoods—and the community-engagement efforts required to foster such vital support systems.

As we face the reality of a warming world, BSR has been having conversations with company leaders about how well they understand the risks of climate change. How will higher temperatures and extreme weather affect your company? How will your company adapt—and how can you help your customers and the communities in which you operate adapt—to this new normal?

For more about trends for this year, including new issues in climate change and business, read BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer’s “Look Ahead: 2013.”