Although widely acknowledged as the hottest year on record, boasting a ‘mega’ El Nino, and punctuated by the Nepal earthquake, 2015 was a remarkably benign year for natural disasters.

Fewer than 23,000 deaths were attributed to natural disasters in 2015 and just 98.5 million people were affected, representing a significant fall on the 10 year average of 76,000 deaths and more than 173 million impacted per year. Meanwhile, the $66.5 billion of damage caused by natural disasters in 2015 marked a fourth successive annual fall, despite the number of incidents recorded by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) increasing slightly in the four years since 2011.

Taking an active role in effective DRR clearly makes a lot of sense for companies – after all, damage to national infrastructure and internal assets, disrupted supply chains, rising exposure as investment grows in hazardous geographies, and a displaced and distressed workforce can impact not just the bottom line, but also pose an existential threat to the organisation itself.

There are three areas that businesses can target in order to build disaster resilience. First, ‘hardening’ operations and supply chains to natural hazard threats to ensure business continuity and worker safety in the event of a disaster. Second, working with governments and communities to build resilience at the local level, which not only improves the robustness of neighbourhood infrastructure businesses rely upon, but also ensures that any affected economies served can be up and running again quickly following an event. And third, companies need to acknowledge the requirement for a culture of accountability towards the risks posed by natural hazards, through corporate reporting and disclosure. Investors are increasingly aware of risks pertaining to natural hazards and are demanding greater transparency from companies around how they are dealing with them. To read more click here.