Triple Bottom Tuesday >>> The Business Cost of Climate Change is Becoming Clear

Picture Credit: Nikolas Noonan

Global warming has been a topic of debate since it was first brought to the attention of the public in 1988. Even today some world leaders refuse to believe in the consequences of global warming and instead continue to support businesses and projects which damage the environment. However, the consequences of global warming are real, and the true costs of climate change is finally beginning to emerge.

Pittsburgh is located 320 kilometres away from the nearest coast, yet the city’s retail and office buildings still face almost $420 million in damages due to floods. According to the First Street Foundation, a Brooklyn-based technology start up, the US could face a bill as large as $13.5 billion due to damages caused by natural disasters like floods and hurricanes in 2022. That figure is estimated to grow by more than 25% in the next 30 years as floods and extreme weather events like hurricanes become more frequent.

The study was conducted by the First Street Foundation to better understand the risks that global warming pose to commercial buildings in the US. “We are demonstrating that American businesses and local economies face much more uncertainty and unpredictability when it comes to the potential impact of flooding on their bottom line than they realise”, commented Matthew Eby, the founder and executive director of the First Street Foundation.

The report further investigated 3.6 million commercial properties and multi-storied residential buildings across the US and found more than 700,000 properties to be at risk of damage by floods.

Picture Credit: Josep Castells

Global warming is rapidly increasing the number of natural disastrous we face annually, and the cost to restore and rebuild will keep on mounting. The average number of hurricanes that the US faced last year alone was twice the average (since 1991), and the number of natural disasters increased fivefold since the 1970’s.

These alarming trends and studies prove that climate change simply cannot be ignored.

December 21st 2021 | 12:55 PM