The UN has launched an initiative to mainstream disaster risk management into corporate planning and investment decision-making: a digital globe that shows current and possible future effects of climate change.
The R!SE initiative aims to help quell economic loss from geographic events and is a response to 10 years of record-breaking economic losses and disruption from disasters.
R!SE partners include: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Florida International University, Principles for Responsible Investment, the design and construction firm AECOM and global insurance broker Willis.
By 2020, the R!SE Initiative will have reached out to a minimum of 1,000 asset owners and investment managers, 200 insurers and re-insurers and 100 global businesses in at least 50 cities and 20 countries, the UN says.
Among other tasks that the partners have pledged to do, PwC will build on work already carried out with 14 of the world’s largest corporations, including Walmart and Citibank, to develop a better approach to disaster risk management and create voluntary industry standards that will strengthen social demand for disaster risk-sensitive products.
Additionally, the Economist Intelligence Unit will develop risk analysis for economic and business forecasts that include disaster risk.
Risks like disruption from flooding, crucial materials to manufacturing becoming more and more expensive and damage to reputation all need different handling, and risk management approaches haven’t evolved as fast as the changing landscape, PwC says.
The firm’s report, How can resilience prepare companies for environmental and social change?, published in February address these issues and provide solutions for companies to deal with social and environmental risks.