The Internet buzzes with the ambitious plan* by White House advisors John Podesta and John Holdren to create easy-to-use tools to prepare people to be more resilient to climate change. But, hey, we’re already doing this for the world – employing half-a-million data points in an interactive assessment of 177 countries that uses this framework:
And our data, methodology and framework are free and available for anyone to see and use.
Here’s an ingredient in our not-so-secret sauce: We include readiness. We believe decision makers need to know what’s occurring in the government, economic and social sectors to make the vulnerability information truly actionable. Because corporate decision makers don’t look at climate change in isolation, we include climate and other variables in our set of vulnerability indicators. Human health, human habitat, water, food, ecosystems and infrastructure variables round out our description.
We aim to keep it simple and easy to use, drawing the user in initially with a relative rank of geographies.
Then, we provide detailed information about each geography, including the variables most at risk:
Consider these ways this framework can raise awareness and inform decision-making by turning climate risk into opportunity for action.
Supply chain risk: Plot the major assets in your value chain on a matrix of relative vulnerability and readiness, and discover your major risks and opportunities for investment:
Investment decisions: Do you possess a product that helps increase resiliency? How about infrastructure, pharmaceutical or building technologies? Compare several geographies to one another to determine relative areas of risk – energy sensitivity for one, health-care workers per capita for another.
Setting development priorities: Exploring opportunities to expand your operations in a new location? What variables matter most? Roadway infrastructure, an educated workforce? Data here, all in one place, will inform your next steps.
Good luck with this super important effort, Messrs. Podesta and Holdren.
We commend you for your work to unleash the power of data on climate change adaptation and resiliency.
Read about our methodology here, and contact us for more info!
* http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/19/fact-sheet-president-s-climate-data-initiative-empowering-america-s-comm