Building Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia

Authors

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  Eileen Gallagher

  Director, Climate Change, BSR

  

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  Eileen Gallagher

  Director, Climate Change, BSR

  

  Hong Kong

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  With nearly 20 years of experience, Eileen works with multinational companies to address climate change. She specializes in improving business strategy to consider how climate change and its solutions affect society, the environment, and the economy. 

  Eileen directs BSR’s advisory and grant-funded work where climate intersects with human rights and equity, inclusion, and justice. She also supports companies with climate risk and scenario analysis, emissions reduction targets, and net-zero roadmaps. ​Eileen is BSR’s climate lead in the Asia-Pacific region, where she analyzed how climate change affects vulnerable nations, its people, and global supply chains. ​

  Prior to joining BSR in 2017, Eileen served as a sustainability consultant, supporting companies on sustainability strategy development, strategic stakeholder engagement, and environmental management. While working at a public policy organization, she gained experience in international development, climate policy analysis, and effective communications. ​

  Eileen holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. ​

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Businesses worldwide are facing climate risks, and companies with operations or supply chains in Southeast Asia are exposed to a range of climate hazards and vulnerabilities that can exacerbate these risks. To prepare for the effects of climate change, businesses in the region need to build resilience.

Why Read This?

The World Economic Forum reports that the leading threats to businesses today are extreme weather events, natural disasters, and the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Climate volatility can disrupt or damage all aspects of a company’s operations, affecting access to natural resources that are vital for production, infrastructure, and logistics that are essential for a functioning supply chain, and markets for goods and services. Failing to understand and manage climate change properly can impact a business’ strategy, finances, operations, marketing, compliance, and human resources.

It is imperative for the private sector to take a two-pronged approach to climate action:

1. To transition to a low-carbon economy, and
2. To enhance adaptive capacity in the face of inevitable climate hazards.