Business's Role in Disaster Prevention

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In Bangladesh, microfinance beneficiaries recovered much more quickly from catastrophic floods in 1998 than those without it (see BusinessWeek.com 10/13/06, "What the Nobel Means for Microcredit"). Insurers and reinsurers already play a big part in identifying the risks from disasters; helping people to overcome them would be a great challenge but also a huge achievement.

Of course, one lesson from dealing with post-disaster relief is that business cannot do it alone. Disaster-prevention programs work best when they bring together coordinated, well-funded partnerships with a clear vision of what they are trying to achieve. Companies such as DHL, TNT (TP), PWC Logistics, and UPS (UPS) have, through a World Economic Forum partnership, "identified a match between their skills and the humanitarian aid agencies" including sophisticated supply-chain management networks, fleets of aircraft and trucks, and staff skilled in ensuring the timely delivery of goods, making them ideal partners when it comes to dealing with disasters.

Enlightened Self-Interest, and More

Governments have not made disaster prevention a priority, either in developing or industrialized countries, despite commitments made by the international community at the 2005 World Conference for Disaster Reduction. Notwithstanding Bono, Live8, the G8, and the African Commission, the political will to prevent the appalling losses that accompany natural disasters just isn't there yet.

Meanwhile, business is increasingly embracing corporate social responsibility, as demonstrated by the growth of sustainability reporting, ethical supply-chain management, and the rise of corporate and individual philanthropy. This was vividly illustrated by Warren Buffett's June, 2006, donation of $37 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the total of more than $7 billion pledged at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York in September, 2006, by companies as diverse as De Beers, Standard Chartered Bank, TNT, and Virgin.

Business support for disaster prevention, preparedness, and response is simply the right thing to do. Workers are spreading that message to their managers, executives are telling their boards the same. Businesses now know that disaster prevention is not just in their enlightened self-interest, nor simply a condition of their social license to operate. Rather, as individuals and groups, they see that they can really make a difference. It's more than the money—it's empowering and it feels rather good.

Warhurst is chair of Strategy and International Development at Britain's Warwick Business School, a member of the faculty of the World Economic Forum, and a founding director of social enterprise and advisory firm Maplecroft. She has advised companies including De Beers, Shell, DHL, TNT, Unilever, Nestle Waters, Premier Oil, and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as international humanitarian and human rights organizations on global risks and corporate social responsibility.