Building climate leadership through resilient energy systems
In 2005, I started my first stint at DNV, eager to help the oil and gas industry be a safe place to work. I was excited to lead my first offshore project, although I was quickly shut down by one of the stakeholders who, at that time, thought process safety was a nice-to-have but not a top business priority. I was crushed.
However, I continued to believe that safety was paramount in the process industry and looked for new ways to engage with clients. My resolve was backed by my peers at DNV. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico shocked the world, and process safety soon became the first order of business. Not only was it the right thing to do, but the industry also acknowledged that safe design and operations were the financially smart way to conduct business.
Fast forward 18 years: After stepping away to earn my business degree and launch an entrepreneurial venture, I returned to DNV in a new role and find myself again in the same spot. I am grappling with the challenge of conveying the urgency of mitigating climate change risk to industry peers. Though there is consensus on the actual problem, quantifying business interruption costs, tracking supply chain risks, and evaluating assets in the long-term takes work. What worries me more is that the effects of climate change manifest as a thousand tiny cuts rather than a big event like Deepwater Horizon. Earlier this year, my friends in Houston endured a week-long power outage, my family in India lost property documents from a bank locker due to unexpected flooding, and an education nonprofit in Honduras that I support, faced numerous operational disruptions due to extreme rains. These might seem like isolated incidents, but I hear about such incidents more frequently, and ultimately, they share the same root cause.
What keeps me awake at night also motivates me to look for opportunities ahead
First, I attentively listen to my energy industry partners when they talk about their pain points. For instance, one client expressed concern about the lack of skilled technicians for solar PV projects, noting that even community colleges in her state struggle to enroll candidates for training programs. In another conversation, I discovered that an industry colleague who finances battery energy storage systems (BESS) all over the globe was worried about the safety risk of BESS projects close to communities. Fortunately, I was able to allay their concerns by sharing a whitepaper that I had co-authored recently on BESS safety. By understanding my clients’ perceptions and the impact of climate change on their daily lives, I am able to steer the conversation towards planning for climate resilience. This approach helps us move beyond discussing climate change as an abstract concept and focus on practical, actionable strategies.
To strengthen my technical skills, I am pursuing a Climate Risk Valuation course offered by CFA Institute. And to stay up to date with industry news, I regularly engage with resources published by climate networks such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and follow leading climate voices such as Alicia Seiger and David Carlin.
And, more importantly, I lean on my expert DNV colleagues who truly care and challenge me to grow. I am continually inspired by our team’s data-driven culture that generates industry insights such as the Energy Transition Outlook and Leading a data-driven transition. This knowledge base helps me provide meaningful solutions to our clients’ nuanced problems.
All of this meant even more to me when I recently advised an energy developer to secure the largest competitively awarded U.S. offshore wind project. The regulator required the offshore wind developer to demonstrate a climate and resilience strategy as part of their bid submission. By analyzing material climate-related physical risks in its project design, construction and operations, we helped the developer demonstrate a robust design with adequate risk mitigation. This project will power over 1 million homes, reducing carbon emissions by 4.1 million tons annually - that’s the kind of impact that energizes me to care deeply for my work.
Climate risk is a buzzword today and may be for the right reasons! If we care about our families having energy security, our organizations securing investments to provide that security, and our communities being treated fairly in the process, then we must care about managing climate change risk.
9/30/2024 12:09:00 PM
