The growing impact of climate change and natural disasters on businesses will bring local representatives, chambers of commerce and international experts together in Barcelona on 18 and 19 March to discuss how to protect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The workshop, organised by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) with the support of the IQS School of Management, is part of an international project focusing on three key cities: Barcelona and Sendai (Japan), both recognised as MCR2030 Resilience Hubs, along with Bridgetown (Barbados).

Participants discussed possible interdependencies between sectors and infrastructures, proposing strategies to improve disaster preparedness in the Barcelona region, focusing on both urban services and SMEs.

One of the roundtables brought together representatives from Bridgetown and Sendai, as well as experts from the insurance sector, to share best practices and real-life experiences, including the response to the recent DANA in Valencia. “Disruptions to SMEs due to their vulnerability to hurricanes and other disasters often have devastating knock-on effects on economies,” said Misha Lobban Clarke, Executive Director of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). From Sendai, Satoko Shibata, Director of the Disaster-Resilient and Environmentally-Friendly City Promotion Office, explained the case of Sendai BOSAI-TECH, highlighting “a voice-processing technology for outdoor disaster information systems and the use of drones to inform the public about tsunami evacuations”.

The meeting also examined the shared responsibility of the public and private sectors in disaster risk reduction, multi-sectoral collaboration, UNDRR tools for SME resilience, while building roadmaps for each city to guide future interventions.

On behalf of Barcelona, Josep Xurigué, Deputy Director of Barcelona Comerç, stressed the need to help microenterprises better understand the dangers facing the city: “This UNDRR project is interesting because it helps small businesses improve their knowledge of disaster risk reduction through a practical approach to developing business continuity plans.”

The project will continue to assess the resilience of SMEs, as well as training actions and programmes, field studies, and continuity plans, which will benefit at least 100 SMEs in the target cities.