New Writing: Recent global events have disrupted markets and made a mockery of many a business plan. So, writing for The Hub, the award-winning content platform curated by Mitsubishi Electric, Jim McClelland asks: How can a company find certainty in an uncertain world?
Reeling from Covid to conflict, society continues to endure a period of such hostile uncertainty that it borders on chaos. In the midst of it all, business bats on — fending off everything from fluctuating fortunes to logistical log-jams, one Monday morning at a time.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, factored all of this into a five-year business plan back in 2019.
Ballot boxes and crystal balls
To add to the sense of unease, 2024 is also an election year in more than 60 different nations and states, as well as the EU. This means over half the global population will cast its vote.
So, for literally billions of people worldwide, from India to Namibia, US to UK, a degree of churn is guaranteed, politically speaking, before we reach the end of December.
Whilst you have a vote and a date, however, you still cannot be sure what will follow.
Some elections will be closer than others. Plus, even where you know the likely outcome at the ballot box, politicians seldom stick religiously to their manifesto pledges and campaign promises.
Picking post-election policies is effectively a guessing game, not a blueprint for investment and development; plus, the term of office is typically short, often only four years.
So, is anything, therefore, actually certain?
Healthy dose of climate reality
Well… There is one thing that is certain: climate change.
Globally, the evidence is everywhere: seas are rising and acidifying, urban smogs are descending, species are migrating, crops are failing and desertification is on the march.
Climate change is simply a scientific fact; and a cause with tragic and costly symptoms.
In the US alone, there were 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020. The price tag put on this climate risk was a staggering $92.9 billion.
So, whilst the precise impact of the next extreme weather event might be pretty hard to predict, it is coming, regardless, possibly to a place near you, some time very soon.
It is important to understand that this is not doom-mongering, this is climate realism. We know this stuff is happening; we can see it in our gardens, as much as our supply chains.
Climate change is a certainty, now and for the foreseeable future.
Climate change is also a call to action; and the time to act is now.
The carbon clock is ticking
It is not just a figure of speech to say that the carbon clock is ticking. The digits are actually rolling over, adding up before our very eyes, counting parts per million (PPM) in the atmosphere.
This is truly alarming; but also, perversely, strangely empowering and invigorating from a sustainable business point of view. So, start your resilience planning, today, with immediate effect.
To read more about how and why the climate emergency should be built into your business plan, check out the full-length article published exclusively on The Hub:
Finding certainty in an uncertain world.
To view a back-catalogue of articles authored by Jim McClelland for ‘The Hub’, please see archive here.
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