Page 149 - INTERNATIONAL SOS PR REPORT FEBRUARY 2024

3/1/24, 3:05 PM Climate Change Risks Exposed: International SOS Data Highlights Urgent Need For Preparedness, Sharing Key Advice For Busine…
respond to / mitigate disruptions caused by climate activism.

41% of respondents think that their organisation is not necessarily fully prepared to
respond to / mitigate environmental threats.

26% of respondents have already reported operational disruption attributed to climate

change.

1. The International SOS Risk Outlook 2024, based on a survey of 675 global senior risk

professionals, exposes gaps in the protection of employee health and security such as risk
perception, mental health, productivity impacts and operational
challenges. The survey is complemented with interpretations and predictions from the

Workforce Resilience Council, as well as extensive proprietary data and analysis from
International SOS. The Workforce Resilience Council is made up of representative

experts from all health, security, and safety fields. The participants in this year's Council are
from a mix of think tanks, associations, advisory boards, NGOs, and IGOs, relevant to the

risks of working at home or abroad.

Commenting on the medical outlook, Dr Marie-Louise Van Eck, Regional Medical Director,
Europe Middle East at International SOS:“We are witnessing storms, wildfires and

monsoons increasing in severity in the past years. The impacts of climate change can wreak
havoc on business operations, exhibiting non-linear patterns of disruption. For instance,

consider a construction company in the Middle East reliant on an outdoor workforce. As
temperatures rise, productivity diminishes gradually. However, beyond a certain

threshold,operations can grind to a halt due to unsafe working conditions. From high
temperatures, worsening air quality and the spread of emerging diseases to the mental health
toll of natural disasters and climate anxiety, we are seeing a concerning trend. In fact, air

pollution is the leading environmental cause of illness and premature death across the world.

The changing climate patterns are also leading to the emergence and spread of vector-borne
diseases in previously unaffected areas. Furthermore, climate change events are also
negatively affecting individuals' mental health. This could be an immediate consequence from

experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder due to a natural disaster, or from the constant
exposure to the global catastrophic events, causing a longer-term climate anxiety and

depression amongst individuals.”

“At International SOS, we saw a significant increase in the number of climate-related alerts
we issued last year. Throughout January – November 2023, we saw a fourfold increase in

climate related alerts issued to our clients, with 80% more medical climate-related alerts

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