LA Wildfires: Why we must prepare for climate change
Since January 7 wildfires have raged across Los Angeles in the USA, destroying property, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power, and claiming the lives of at least 34 people. These destructive fires are reportedly caused by wetter-than-average conditions that initially spurred vegetation growth, which has since dried out and become highly flammable due to drought. Currently, a red flag warning is in place as strong Santa Ana winds are expected to exacerbate the situation.
Experts say that climate change is altering global weather conditions that make extreme events such as these more likely. The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate Update for 2024, presented at November’s COP29[1], once again issued a red alert over the pace of climate change. The update said that the Paris Agreement’s targets, introduced to reduce the average global temperature, are in great peril and that “extreme weather is wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world.”
Supporting this statement is BCI research indicating practitioners are grappling with an increase in climate-related risks. Nearly half of survey respondents experienced a moderate or significant impact from climate-related events over the past five years[2], and extreme weather events reached a risk index of 8.4 in 2024, rising from 6.0 over the last edition of Horizon Scan[3]. The top climate-related effects to organizations were physical impacts and supply chain disruption[4]. Despite increasingly severe and frequent weather-related events, few organizations have invested in long term measures to adapt to the new realities of changing weather. Without the force of regulation, senior management are not always keen to invest, choosing to try to mitigate the effects of weather-related events on an ad-hoc basis instead of investing in pre-planned adaptive measures.[5]
With adverse climate-related events looking set to rise in severity and frequency in the future, what can be done to respond?
As physical and supply chain impacts are the most frequently experienced disruptions, practitioners should consider auditing existing plans to identify locations and supply chains at risk of wildfire (or other climate related events such as flooding and high winds) not only currently, but future-proofing them to address potential future hazards. According to the BCI Supply Chain Report 2024[6], the majority of organizations are either already assessing their supply chain’s vulnerabilities or planning to do so in the future, indicating a move towards identifying climate risks. Organizations without specific climate modelling tools could leverage their insurers’ information. Although many insurance firms are now refusing to insure properties in elevated climate risk areas, highlighting the importance of adaptation measures, many are increasingly extending their services beyond coverage to support clients in identifying their risks and developing strategies to mitigate them[7].
Practitioners could also lobby senior management for investments to counter climate risks to the organization. Over half of respondents to the Extreme Weather and Climate Change Report 2023 considered the only way to make organizations address climate risk, and implement adaptation measures, was via regulations, however the primary drivers identified for addressing climate within risk agendas were not only its effects on operations, but meeting or exceeding corporate social responsibility targets, reputational benefits, and staff health and wellbeing impacts. Practitioners could leverage the importance of these other drivers to increase their organization’s resilience to extreme weather events.
The latest wildfires in LA have once again stressed the importance of mitigating against climate-related disruptions and highlighted the importance of community resilience. Private organizations, and public institutions, should be working with customers, and the public, to train them on how to respond to recurrent climate-related events. Addressing both current and potential future disruptions are essential tasks to ensure the resilience of organizations and communities.
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About the author
Rebecca Mathews
The BCI
