LOS ANGELES (September 23, 2015) — AECOM has won the 2015 ND-GAIN Corporate Adaptation Prize, a coveted award granted by the University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index for its Disaster Resilience Scorecard. Developed in concert with IBM for the United Nations (UN), the Disaster Resilience Scorecard helps communities understand, communicate and implement actions to reduce disaster risk and accelerate recovery. The scorecard supports UN efforts to prepare for, respond to and quickly recover from natural disasters by bringing together expertise and resources from the public and private sectors.
ND-GAIN award submissions represented projects in over a dozen countries on topics such as reforestation, water, food, energy and health, which were evaluated for measurable adaptation progress, scalability, market impact and partnerships. Winners are being honored at an event in connection with Climate Week NYC and the UN Sustainability Summit.
“AECOM and IBM are pleased the Disaster Resilience Scorecard received this prestigious award,” said Dale Sands, senior vice president and environment business director, metro and climate adaption services, who is accepting the award for AECOM. “This scorecard is an impactful, user-friendly tool that supports cities and stakeholders with disaster risk reduction and preparedness. With spiraling capital losses resulting from an increasing number of natural disasters, and growing urban populations and infrastructure around the world, it’s critical that we adapt now to the changing climate to help the sustainability and viability of our communities.”
“As a result of climate change, cities and private organizations are increasingly aware of frailties of growing urbanization and global supply chains due to extreme events such as floods, heat waves and hurricanes,” said Peter Williams, CTO of Big Green Innovations at IBM and one of the authors of the Scorecard. “The Disaster Resilience Scorecard strives to decrease climate-related and natural disaster vulnerabilities for cities around the globe. Cities can now systematically assess their strengths and weaknesses — making their local communities smarter and safer.”