Resilience in Action: Insights into Private and Public Sector Responses to Climate Risks

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This session features four papers exploring the ways that businesses, non-governmental organizations, and governments are responding to the accelerating impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, wildfires, and hurricanes. The first two papers focus on how two types of private institutions – mortgage lending companies and electric utilities – are addressing climate risks in their operations. Haupert and Keenan evaluate how mortgage lenders in California respond to increasing wildfire risks in their underwriting and loan approval decisions. Using loan-level data from 2018–2020 and wildfire risk measures, the study finds evidence that lenders are employing different risk management techniques, with traditional lenders assigning higher risk to properties in wildfire-prone areas compared to fintech lenders. Han and Johnson leverage high-resolution smart meter data from a municipal utility to investigate the relationships between community NGOs and recovery from power outages after three major hurricanes in Tallahassee, FL. Initial results indicate that the spatial distribution of NGOs may actually contribute to inequalities in power outage duration rather than alleviate them, although additional analyses will evaluate if this finding varies by NGO type.

The remaining two papers focus on local and regional policy approaches to addressing the impacts of extreme heat. Ahn examines the role of chief heat officers (CHO) in shaping heat governance at the local government level through semi-structured interviews and qualitative thematic analysis. The results indicate that CHOs promote public awareness of heat risks, local heat policy implementation, and collaboration across government, although the effectiveness of this position varies between cities. Burley Farr employs a quasi-experimental approach to estimate the impact of National Weather Service heat alerts on EMS encounters for heat-related illness in the US Southeast, focusing on the potential mechanisms and moderators of effectiveness. Preliminary results suggest that the effect of increased awareness of heat-related illness symptoms often outweighs the protective effect of behavioral change, although alerts may encourage behavioral change in higher-risk settings. Together, these four papers shed light on opportunities for companies and governments to collaborate at different scales and enhance resilience by improving their understanding and management of climate risks.

Policy Area

• Natural Resource, Energy, and Environmental Policy

Chair

• Brian Y. An, Georgia Institute of Technology

Discussants

• Younghyun Cho, Florida State University

• Ryan P Scott, Colorado State University

Organizer

• Katherine Burley Farr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• The Role of NGOs in Climate Resilience: Evidence from Tallahassee Smart Meters - Presenting Author: Daniel Han, Florida State University

• Insights on the Dynamic Effects of Heat Alerts on Heat-Related Morbidity in the US Southeast - Presenting Author: Katherine Burley Farr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Governing extreme heat: The rise of the chief heat officers in local governments - Presenting Author: Minwoo Ahn, University of Arizona

• Health and Climate Benefits of Solar Photovoltaic in European Countries and the Role of Imports - Presenting Author: Kaifang Luo