Invest in resilience

Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Marsha Caddle, proposed this during her keynote address at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Barbados and OECS 2019 Retreat at the Hilton Barbados Resort on Monday.

She commented that in the past, that the work done as it relates to climate and disaster was based on forecasting. Caddle added that where there were losses of 10 to 20 gross domestic product or GDP, today there is a change of 220 per cent loss of GDP in the case of Dominica after the passing of Hurricane Maria. The Minister indicated that this situation is getting worst…

 

How will California prevent more mega-wildfire disasters?

Sasha Berleman walks through 10 acres of burned woods in a coastal forest about 26 miles north of San Francisco, California. A fire ecologist for the conservation organization Audubon Canyon Ranch, she and a crew of 40 firefighters and trained volunteers had set the area ablaze three weeks earlier. Now she’s looking for signs of regeneration.

Berleman’s team was using low-intensity ground fire to remove a thick carpet of fallen pine needles and broken, sawed-off branches that littered the forest floor. The fire also took out small trees and shrubs that could have served as fuel ladders, bringing fire into the larger trees’ canopies. This formerly dense forest now looks like a wooded park, with wide spaces between the large trees, many scorched but still alive, and a few dead snags that will be left standing for woodpeckers and other cavity nesters. Native needle grass, blackberry, and coffeeberry are beginning to sprout out of the ashy soil…

 

When disaster strikes: managing employees following a natural disaster

The current fires in New South Wales and Queensland are a timely reminder for employers to review their business arrangements for responding to such crises, particularly in workforce management, and ensuring that they have a plan in place to deal with the aftermath.

This article provides some guidance on the kinds of things that employers need to think about following a natural disaster…