The start of Atlantic hurricane season is a reminder that building resiliency to a changing climate is more important than ever. That’s why AT&T is making available for public use unique climate datasets for Florida and 3 other states in the Southeast. The datasets were developed by Argonne National Laboratory for AT&T’s Climate Change Resiliency Project—an industry-leading effort to evaluate the risks of climate change to AT&T’s operations and to help boost climate resiliency in the communities the company serves. The rich climate projection data can be plugged into a variety of software applications to visualize climate impacts at the neighborhood level 30 years into the future.
AT&T, in collaboration with Argonne National Lab, has also launched the “Climate Resiliency Community Challenge.” Public and private colleges and universities are invited to apply to participate in the challenge, which is designed to help local communities better predict, prepare for and adapt to the changing climate. In this challenge, universities will collaborate with local governments in the Southeast to conduct a climate risk-based analysis. One team each from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina will be selected by a panel of climate resiliency experts. AT&T will provide the selected universities with leading climate data from Argonne National Laboratory and up $50,000 in funding to support the research projects. Participating universities will prepare and share a report of their findings, including proposals for potential solutions for action, online and with the community.
“Climate change impacts everyone – financially and physically – even if we might not recognize it in our daily lives,” said Charlene Lake, senior vice president-Corporate Social Responsibility and chief sustainability officer at AT&T. “It’s important we know the risks and learn how to adapt. At AT&T, we’re using the best available science and technology to visualize the impacts of climate change on our business.”
AT&T also released the findings of its Climate Resiliency Survey of business leaders, conducted by Morning Consult to better understand the views and actions of how businesses are preparing for climate change. The survey reveals that a majority of businesses (59%) view climate change as a priority, yet less than a third (29%) have assessed the risks of climate change to their businesses, and fewer than 2 in 5 (38%) say their company has a plan to respond to climate-related events. These findings suggest there is both interest and opportunity for businesses to improve preparedness and climate resilience.
