WEF: It’s not just climate change driving natural disaster losses

  • Climate change is contributing to rising losses from natural disasters, including increased damage to physical assets and disruption to business operations.
  • But an underreported driver of losses is the growing number and value of exposed properties, such as those in floodplains.
  • Organizations should set a baseline of risk to understand how natural disasters can impact existing assets and supply chains, and build resilience on that basis.

Climate science is a fast-evolving field of study, and while projections of future environmental outcomes remain uncertain, the need for investments in long-term resilience strategies has never been clearer. A multifaceted approach to climate action focuses not only on reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy sources, but also on ensuring that individual entities prepare for and adapt to what lies ahead.

Many of the dangerous and costly manifestations of climate change are already here. Rising temperatures create conditions that are more conducive to a higher frequency or severity — or both — of many natural perils, creating the potential for increased damage to physical assets and disruption to business operations.

FULL ORIGINAL PUBLICATION HERE