In a climate emergency, forewarned is forearmed

In June, the Met Office introduced a new Extreme Heat National Weather Warning. As with wind, rain, snow, ice and lightning, amber and red warnings can now be issued to inform the British public that extreme heat might cause widespread disruption – or even kill them.

The Met Office did this because its models now suggest that the extreme summer temperatures seen recently in the UK will become the norm by 2050. On the face of it, the prospect of hotter summers might sound a welcome one. But the consequences for health can be severe – and the impact on infrastructure and business calamitous. 

Emergency mass notification systems

Rather than waiting until disaster strikes and then clearing up afterwards, it is clearly more cost-effective to invest in measures to limit or reduce damage occurring in the first place. Some of the climate-change ‘adaptions’ that are most likely to be effective include ensuring that new infrastructure is more resilient to extreme weather conditions, protecting mangroves, changing agricultural practices and improving the management of our water resources.

One of the most cost-effective solutions, however, is also one of the simplest: deploying and strengthening emergency mass-notification warning systems. In its 2019 report, the Global Commission on Adaptation found that the cost-benefit ratio for strengthening early-warning systems was as high as 10:1. So every $1 invested in adaption could result in $10 net economic benefit. Studies in Germany, France, the US, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Cuba, China have all proven the value of early-warning mass-notification systems in protecting human lives and physical assets. 

Key policy interventions in Bangladesh contributed to reduced deaths from climate disasters

Everbridge’s technology can help humanity adapt to climate change

At the time of writing, the Positive Future fund’s largest holding is US-listed Everbridge Inc. It provides emergency mass-notification systems and has more countrywide deployments than any other company. It already provides countrywide public-warning systems to Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greece, the Netherlands, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and Peru as well as to various US states including Florida, Connecticut, Washington and Massachusetts. 

There’s the potential for more countries to join them; Article 110 of the European Electronic Communications Code made it mandatory for all the Member States of the European Union to deploy a public warning system by June 2022. For its part, the UK recently trialled a new emergency alert text system. This was also provided by Everbridge. 

Founded in the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11, Everbridge has a strong mission-driven culture. Its ‘cell broadcast’ location-based technology enables real-time emergency messages to be sent to a specific area (local, regional or nationwide), reaching millions in just seconds and delivering location-specific information (such as “use this emergency route” or “don’t go this way”).

Moreover, it can deliver these messages even if the network is congested and without affecting the privacy of its users. Such messages are automatically displayed on the phone screen without any user interaction and with a special standardised ringtone and vibration. Everbridge’s software also enables communications across sirens, TV, radio, digital signs and social media.

The need for climate mitigation AND adaption

Based on current trends, Bloomberg New Energy Finance recently estimated that we will hit two degrees of warming in 2044 and, we will have exhausted the emissions budget to stay within 1.5 degrees by as soon as 2028. 

Even if humanity does manage to contain temperature increases to 1.5 degrees, things won’t suddenly get better; they will simply stop getting worse.

Furthermore, even with the most ambitious targets for reducing emissions are hit, further changes are now baked into the system. Slashing emissions greenhouse gases is the best means of both mitigation and adaption (by minimizing the scale of the problem and reducing future uncertainty). But society needs to prepare in other ways to manage and adapt to the impact of a changing climate in the near future. It’s not either/or; we must now do both. We think Everbridge can help.

Ryan Smith is part of Artemis’ impact equities team. Read more about the team’s approach.