Latest Updates

Our COP28 Roundtable on Enabling Private Finance for Adaptation convened senior stakeholders from across sectors to explore the case for resilience investment, current challenges that widen the financing gap, and real-world innovative solutions that have already demonstrated remarkable success in accelerating adaptation, protecting value chains and sustaining livelihoods. Find out our key takeaways.

Gain insights into unaddressed risks to resilience in 2023 with a thought-provoking article authored by Dr. Chris Needham-Bennett and Garth Banks from Needhams 1834 Ltd. Working from home brought about new IT security challenges and changed the dynamics between employers and employees. Quantifying threats and incorporating them into risk registers remains difficult, prompting us to consider what other hurdles to resilience might be overlooked, such as space weather events or potential wars in Europe.

As we look ahead to 2024, several key trends and predictions emerge, offering hope and insight into navigating shifts to the workplace, and dealing with new technology. This article explores some of the most pressing employee struggles and discusses how the future may shape our ability to overcome them.

In the recently unveiled Control Risks Global Resilience Report for 2023, the spotlight is on the evolving landscape of organisational resilience. With data from 640 global business leaders, this report dives deep into shifts in horizon scanning, the spectrum of threats confronting organisations, and the areas they’re fortifying to boost their resilience. Find out the key takeaways.

As climate change continues to pose significant challenges to society, it’s crucial to embrace new technologies to galvanise climate action. John White, Managing Director EMEA at Riskthinking.AI, highlights the role of technology in collecting and analysing climate data to facilitate decision-making, in addition to emphasising the importance of effectively translating climate science into the language of the boardroom.

In today’s world, 99% of organisations rely heavily on digital technology, making it essential to have strong digital resilience. This is especially true when it comes to two critical areas: cyber risks and artificial intelligence (AI) risks. Sheá Panayi, Cyber Risk Consultant, and Arunava Banerjee CISM, Cyber Risk Consulting Lead, at Zurich Resilience Solutions, share their expertise on how to enhance resilience.

Flooding is a natural disaster – exacerbated by climate change – that can have devastating effects on communities and businesses. With the frequency and severity of floods increasing in recent years, it is more important than ever for organisations to prioritise flood resilience.

We sat down with Property Flood Resilience Champion, Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, to discuss why Property Flood Resilience is crucial for businesses, what steps they can take to become more flood resilient, and the potential impacts of flooding on their property, infrastructure, and staff.

In this article we will delve into some of the most dynamic and thought-provoking conversations that took place at the International Risk and Resilience Conference, and shed light on current global challenges and opportunities. Discussions included Martyn’s Law, threats to global supply chains, increased cybersecurity risks and the next big shock that could impact businesses.

We teamed up with our Changemaker Member Marsh McLennan to co-host our inaugural half-day tabletop exercise on 28 September. The exercise provided participants with an opportunity to address key issues, threats, and gaps in organisational resilience through a facilitated discussion. It focused on creating a forum for information sharing across industry sectors and coordination of activities, to advance and sustain resilience programmes, policies, and strategies.

Rod Cartwright, a consultant and expert in crisis risk management, shares ten lessons from the two-day International Risk & Resilience Conference, held at the International Security Expo, providing food for thought for anyone interested in the evolution from downside risk management to positive resilience-building.

Resilience First, Resilience Rising and Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) hosted a private lunch and roundtable discussion with senior corporate climate leaders and resilience experts during New York Climate Week 2023.

Many in the private sector do not yet adequately appreciate the risks and opportunities associated with physical climate impacts, but the demand for corporate climate resilience is steadily increasing.

Last week the UN Secretary-General said that “Climate breakdown has begun…surging temperatures demand a surge in action”. As resilience experts, we are no strangers to adversity. However, the events of this past summer in the Global North have been truly shocking, with the homes, jobs and critical infrastructure of citizens lives severely affected. Dr Jamie Shea CMG breaks down what resilience professionals in both government and the private sector need to be doing about it.

According to the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s 2023 report, the average cost of certain cybercrimes has been estimated at £15,300 per business, 32% of businesses recorded breaches or attacks, and there were approximately 2.39 million instances of cybercrime reported in the last 12 months. It’s imperative to stay updated on the latest trends and examples of cyber-attacks to safeguard your business and data.

Ahead of our panel discussion at the International Risk and Resilience conference our member Russell-Cooke gives you some guidance on cyber security and the latest trends.

The UK’s manufacturing base has enjoyed little respite since it came under siege at the start of the pandemic. Business conditions have evolved since then, but not always favourably. While the end of the lockdowns in the UK and abroad, opened markets back up to trade, few predicted that global demand would exceed supply in such a way as to hamstring the sector’s recovery.

With cyber-attacks increasing by 66% in the past year alone, it’s clear that businesses need to make cyber resilience an urgent priority.

The UK Electoral Commission’s recent security breach serves as yet another reminder of just how harmful these attacks can be.

Ahead of the International Security Expo taking place 26-27 September at Olympia London (where Resilience First has curated the programme for the Risk and Resilience Conference), security expert Philip Ingram MBE shares five essential steps to protect your organisation.

Investing in resilient infrastructure can bring long-term benefits to society, including economic growth and improved wellbeing, as well as helping to achieve climate adaptation and net zero targets. However, challenges such as government policy priorities, regulatory pressures, and opposition from local communities can lead to delays, cost overruns, and cancellation of necessary investments.

Resilience First was delighted to chair a discussion with National Infrastructure Commission on ways to incentivise and encourage the required action to accelerate the resilience of our national infrastructure.

As humans we have a perhaps unique ability to imagine far into the future and hence appreciate risk. Since the seventeenth century we have developed a lot of science to keep things standing. Generalising things are generally safer and more reliable, in other words less risky. However, something appears to be going paradoxically wrong.

The UK Government has published an updated version of the National Risk Register (NRR). This important document provides invaluable information, giving us the power to invest, prepare, and respond more effectively.

As the UK government looks to enhance public safety with Martyn’s Law planned to be passed in spring 2024, it’s important for businesses to start thinking about how this new bill will impact their operations. At a recent joint Resilience First and Pool Re webinar, our expert speakers spoke about how businesses can get prepared. However, they also warned of pitfalls to avoid, such as scammers offering compliance consultation services, promising compliance before the law is even passed. So, how can businesses ensure that they are prepared for when the legislation is in place?

Alongside the clear role of business in supporting a transition to zero emission economies, London Climate Action Week showed how business can play a leading role in the transition to resilient livelihoods and systems so people and nature can thrive, not just survive, in the face of climate change.

As if to underscore the theme of our Roundtable discussion during London Climate Action Week , “Accelerating Private Sector Leadership on Climate Resilience – making the business case”, less than a week on the world experienced its hottest day since records began.

Building resilience into our economic systems, infrastructure and supply chains is important. Whether it’s the concentrations of risk we saw come to a head in the global financial crisis, our reliance on imports of natural gas, or the realisation of how reliant the world’s shipping systems are on the Suez Canal – events have taught us that sectors or networks which lack diversity and spare capacity are more vulnerable to shocks and single points of failure.

Are we becoming more or less resilient as a nation?

Infrastructure systems underpin modern economies and are needed for human well-being. Yet today they face unprecedented challenges, which transcend geographies and societies, so what’s the solution?