Rising temperatures and sea levels are already making it more challenging to live in some cities around the world. And by 2030, megatrends expert Andrew Winston said we’ll have a very strong sense of which cities are firmly on the path to becoming unlivable. Within 40 years, some places along coastlines will indeed be unhabitable. “This all sounds far off, but it’s really not,” said Winston in an interview for VISION by Protiviti.
In the United States, many cities have stepped up to embrace sustainability initiatives in recent years, during a time, Winston noted, “when there was very little leadership coming from Washington on climate.” Unfortunately, Winston doesn’t believe these efforts will be enough to prevent “bad things” from happening to many cities due to climate change. “We didn’t start early enough, and now we’re late,” he explained.
As for businesses, Winston said he’s been “pleasantly surprised” by how many companies have continued and even accelerated their climate initiatives during the COVID-19 crisis. But he also emphasized that executives and boards need to start thinking more proactively about “how to conduct business in a climate-constrained world” — especially since most firms he’s talked to have yet to assess how climate change will impact the coastal assets in their real estate portfolios.
Read the Q&A with Andrew Winston, Sustainability strategist: By 2030, we’ll know what cities will be unlivable, on VISION by Protiviti — and learn why Winston believes there’s a good chance that companies actually “may end up being our salvation” when it comes to building a better future for all of humanity. Subscribe to the VISION by Protiviti newsletter.
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