BCI World 2021, the annual conference of the Business Continuity Institute – now gone virtual due to the pandemic – is now underway. The event features speakers from all over the world on a wide range of themes pertaining the business continuity and organizational resilience industry. Topics vary from fundaments of business continuity management to cyber security and supply chain resilience, offering something from everyone. However, this year it is interesting to notice the increasing attention posed to climate change, in line with what is currently happening on a global level. COP 26, the largest meeting on climate change is also happening at the moment in the United Kingdom, where world leaders have gathered to ideally speed up the progress on reducing emissions and stopping rising temperatures.
Thus, this is the perfect time also for the organizational resilience industry to make progress on climate issues. Below are some of the sessions that might interest practitioners and stimulate a constructive discussion:
Climate resilience: it is time to team up.
In this presentation Gianluca Riglietti – Research and Intelligence Manager at PANTA RAY – will talk about the state of the art on climate resilience, with insights from original reports and analyses. A first study conducted by PANTA RAY (and available on About Resilience here) on Italian companies shows that those with BCM and sustainability teams reported a greater uptake of best practices such as risk assessments in the supply chain, top management commitment and collaborative efforts. This will be complemented by a further analysis based on in-depth interviews with climate resilience managers and an examination of public statements from global companies.
PANEL DISCUSSION – Effects of Climate Change on Organizational Resiliency: When will it be on the Board’s agenda?
This discussion panel includes some of the conference presenters that will deliver talks on climate change and it aims to create an interesting discussion and exchange of ideas on the topic. The format will be that of an open conversation among the panellists with the option for the audience to ask questions and provide input into the conversation.
Facing the future: are you ready for an ESG-driven crisis?
This presentation by experts from PwC UK focuses on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. Specifically, the talk focuses on the impact of a potential reputational crisis generated by an ethical misconduct – or an allegation – that might cause an organization to end up under the spotlight. The speakers provide insights on how to prepare for such a scenario, creating a dedicated crisis structure and escalating the response as appropriate.
Building climate resilience into the business – A business opportunity before the business urgency
In this session James Morris, Head of Security Services EMEA at Aon and Lisa Oliveri, Director of Global Safety and Security at the Education Development Centre, will talk about the impacts of climate, discussing the adaptations and resiliency planning for professionals. The session will feature a case study, showing how an organisation faced the challenges posed by climate change.
Here Comes Climate Change – It’s all right for BC Professionals
In this talk Margaret Millet, Hon FBCI, Global Resilience Senior Manager at Uber Technologies Inc. talks about how investing in climate resilience measures is a strategic priority for modern organizations. Climate change impacts cut across several business aspects, such as financial, reputational and legal ones; hence, the response must be holistic and bring down silos. To achieve this goal, organizations can leverage Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) systems, to manage and reduce risks.
You can find the conference website with the full programme here.
