Climate change, global warming, extreme temperatures—these and other environmentally focused headlines are increasingly consuming our media feeds each day. From ongoing commentary on the cost of weather-related climate disasters in 2017 to the water drought crisis unfolding in Cape Town, it’s clear that the effects of climate change are global, and the impact can be seen and felt all around us.
As a company with operations in more than 100 countries around the globe—and $2.8 billion in purchasing power that we deploy through our global supply chain—we recognize that we are not immune to the effects of climate change on our business and operations. Climate change presents a current and future issue for our planet. Only collective solutions focused on both the short and long term will enable us to slow its effects, thrive in its existence and significantly impact the future outcomes for generations to come.
Organizations across the globe, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals or CDP’s efforts to measure environmental impact, are already working on such solutions. These are just two examples of the many initiatives that seek to bring companies, organizations and individuals together to address climate change today, while also identifying what we can all do to make a positive impact for the future.
Alla Nielsen vediamo gli effetti del cambiamento climatico in una miriade di modi. L'aumento delle temperature, ad esempio, comporta un aumento dei costi di raffreddamento per i nostri centri dati. L'aumento dei prezzi del carburante influisce sulla raccolta dei dati e sull'approccio all'efficienza dei viaggi nel nostro modello di servizio ai clienti. La rilevanza del cambiamento climatico è indipendente dal settore. A vari livelli, fa parte del profilo di rischio della maggior parte delle aziende globali, indipendentemente dal settore. E questo obiettivo va oltre i rischi legati all'aumento dei costi.
Alla fine del 2017 ne siamo stati testimoni in prima persona. Nel bel mezzo dei molteplici eventi climatici dello scorso autunno, la nostra preoccupazione principale era naturalmente il nostro personale. Garantire che i nostri dipendenti fossero al sicuro e assistiti è stata, e sarà sempre, la nostra prima priorità. Il disaster recovery e la continuità operativa fanno parte del nostro processo di Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) da anni. Ma questi eventi hanno rafforzato la necessità di disporre di sistemi continui per le eventualità future, sia per fornire aiuto ai nostri dipendenti sia per ridurre al minimo gli impatti negativi sull'erogazione dei servizi ai nostri clienti.
Understanding the climate-related risks to our people and business, and ensuring we have the proper governance channels and tactical systems in place, are integral to our climate-change strategy. We are currently finalizing our first climate risk assessment, working with an independent provider to evaluate what the physical and transition risks related to climate change mean for our unique business and global footprint. By better understanding and quantifying our susceptibility to the effects of climate change, we seek to prioritize our risk management activities, inform our evolving climate-change strategy, and share more information with our stakeholders about potential climate risks related to our business.
By being prepared to respond to, mitigate, or even prevent a business risk from climate change, we look to address the vulnerability that bridges the gap between present realities and future success in an increasingly resource-constrained world. We plan to share the results of this assessment in our second Nielsen Global Responsibility Report, publishing in June.
We’re committed to continuing our global sustainability efforts in the work we do every day. Our Technology/Operations Sustainability Council already guides our environmental sustainability work, particularly when it comes to identifying and creating new operational efficiencies. We also acknowledge the power of grassroots efforts and the role each one of our associates has to play in this. Our volunteer Nielsen Green leaders work with teams across real estate, facilities, and operations in their offices and communities to continuously identify and advocate for more sustainable ways of interacting with our natural environment.
Con la Settimana della Terra alle porte, siamo entusiasti di mobilitare e sostenere i nostri collaboratori in tutto il mondo per ridurre ulteriormente l'impatto negativo sull'ambiente.
Nielsen è in viaggio. Riconosciamo la nostra responsabilità nel mantenere la rotta, accelerare i cambiamenti positivi e continuare a creare nuove efficienze ambientali che riducano la nostra impronta e attenuino i rischi ovunque e comunque.
Crystal Barnes is SVP, Global Responsibility & Sustainability, Nielsen, and Executive Director, Nielsen Foundation.
