GEO Matters November-December 2021

The GEO for Business Brief titled ‘Future-proofing infrastructure for climate resilience’ published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to better inform, engage and stimulate positive action from business leaders was launched at a successful event on 7 December 2021. The launch was webcast on YouTube as well as on LinkedIn Live and Zoom with the support of UNEP-WCMC and the UNEP Communication Team. The Business Brief’s launch took place through a high-level interactive panel discussion, including opening remarks from Ligia Noronha, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Head of UNEP, New York Office, she set the scene with a keynote statement that emphasized how crucial future-proofing infrastructure is in addressing the three planetary crises (climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste) and achieving the SDGs. She stated further that “by future-proofing, infrastructure is flexible and resilient to risks such as those posed by climate change and environmental disasters, such as flooding or fires. Future-proof infrastructure also helps move us towards a circular, net-zero carbon future. This is even more important now, because between 1998 and 2017, climate-related disasters accounted for 91 per cent of all recorded disasters and this affected 2 billion people, mostly in Asia and Africa.