Green Tech: Dr Andrew Coburn of Risilience On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact On The Environment
An Interview With Jilea Hemmings
The work we do at Risilience is having a dramatically positive impact on our world. Our clients have committed to eliminating their greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. Collectively today, they emit 245 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. To put that in perspective, that’s equal to the emissions of the entire country of Spain. We’re helping them plan how best to achieve the elimination of this output from their factories and operations and to become carbon neutral.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course, many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making an Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Andrew Coburn, CEO and co-founder of Risilience.
Dr. Andrew Coburn is CEO and co-founder of Risilience, which was formed out of the Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Risilience’s data-driven, Climate Risilience™ analytics platform translates risk insights into financial impact for corporate enterprises, informing strategic decision-making on risk and resilience. This SaaS-based platform analyzes corporate enterprise environments and enables these businesses to assess how they can best reduce CO2 emissions, meet net-zero goals, and save revenues.
Dr. Coburn is also the director of the external advisory board at the Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge, where he is known in the discipline of catastrophe modeling.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
Like the old Dusty Springfield song, I was the son of a preacher man. My father was a street-preaching elder in the Plymouth Brethren, a self-isolating Christian group. Their teachings were influential on me, particularly the bible studies, the emphasis on moral codes and having a strong work ethic, but I found the literal beliefs hard to reconcile.
While I gravitated toward the sciences, it did cause some disagreements with my parents, especially when I went to the University of Cambridge to further my education. Being away for school opened my eyes to many new ideas and different ways of thinking.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In 2005, I went to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina as part of the damage assessment team. Witnessing the devastation and the impact that the destruction had on the people of New Orleans deeply affected me. The company I helped build, Risk Management Solutions, was onsite to assess damage and model hurricane risk. While we base much of our work on mathematical representation models, seeing the destruction first-hand was very eye-opening, especially the extensive flooding and the resulting homelessness of the people throughout multiple communities.
I stood on the rooftop of a hotel and surveyed the damage, and what I remember most is the blue tarpaulins covering houses where the roofs had been ripped off. It’s one thing to analyze data, but it’s something altogether different when you see the impact on people’s lives. I can honestly say that that experience was very formative for me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
One of the people who has had a significant impact on my life is Hemant Shah, founder of Risk Management Solutions. To lead a business, you have to make many decisions that impact a variety of people. I was always impressed with how Hemant relied on his instincts to make decisions. I watched him analyze each situation, identify the key issues, build teams that included people with a variety of skills, and tackle the issue.
Another person who I’ve learned from is my Ph.D. supervisor, Professor Robin Spence from University of Cambridge in UK. He is an expert at examining damage from earthquakes. He taught me the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and traveling to new places to understand different people and places, which helps me to tackle each situation differently. He taught me how to make sense out of chaotic situations.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I was born in England and learned about Rudyard Kipling and his writings. The line I always think about comes from his famous poem, If. “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same.” I like the message that sends of not over-reacting to things,and also how to turn disasters into triumphs. In my own case, this was quite literal in that I worked on reconstruction projects, rebuilding towns that were destroyed in natural catastrophes to the triumph of renewal. I’ve been very proud of the projects I’ve worked on in countries like Mexico, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, and Iran, where I’ve helped communities to build back even better than they were before.
Also, being British, my father frequently used the phrase, “Keep calm and carry on.” This phrase became popular during the German bombing campaign of England in 1940–41. They called it ‘The Blitz Spirit’ — being resilient even under very stressful conditions.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
There are many traits that are needed to be a successful leader, but there are three that resonate with me.
First, if you combine imagination and engineering, you get imagineering. It’s important to think outside of the box, consider ways to change the world, and to be resilient. For my current work, it’s about imagining a different world where businesses behave differently and focus on the greater good, like reducing carbon emissions.
The second one is listening. It’s often overlooked, especially with the types of companies we work with, but it’s so important to be a good listener. Don’t rush to judgement, don’t let prejudices limit your thinking, and examine the evidence to make decisions.
Third, it’s critical to build strong teams based on a diverse set of skills and backgrounds. The old saying, “It takes a village”, is so true in today’s world. Teammates need to interact, share ideas, and collaborate in order to inspire others and solve difficult problems. Everyone has something different to contribute.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on the planet and the environment. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
I believe that climate change is the greatest threat to our world; both now and in the future. I’ve seen the impact of global warming and the devastating effect it’s having on nations around the world. From flooding to fires, no region is safe. We are focused on helping companies transform how they operate in order to reduce carbon emissions. This is a multifaceted issue that requires input from different people with different backgrounds, and it goes back to the idea of imagineering. Our primary goal is to help companies navigate transformation that addresses climate change, for the benefit of shareholders and the wider society.
We strongly support the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which was created by Financial Stability Board, which has set out its series of recommendations to establish a framework for businesses to manage climate risks; both transition and physical, and benefit from the related opportunities.
We work closely with our clients to analyze how they currently operate, understand their goals and minimize risk, and help them develop a net-zero plan to transform their companies. All of this fits under the umbrella of the Paris Agreement, which helps promote consistency in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions around the world.
It’s important to understand that we selected this area of focus based on conversations we had with leaders across many industries. It all comes back to one of the character traits I mentioned — listening. We ask companies to identify their biggest challenges, and the problems they face of addressing climate change came up frequently. The good news is that many companies around the world are investing vast amounts of money toward reducing greenhouse emissions. Whether it’s emphasizing the use of electric vehicles, sourcing materials in different ways, or focusing on sustainability, our clients want to make a positive impact for today and, more importantly, for the future.
How do you think your technology can address this?
The work we did with Nestlé is a good example of the impact we’re having on companies. We did many scenario analyses which gave them a much deeper understanding of the potential exposures they may face, which enhanced their strategic discussions and financial planning process.
Another example is Burberry, the British luxury fashion company. We helped them determine key risk areas and understand their potential impact on their operations and extended supply chain. This helped them identify the raw materials and supply-chain locations that have high exposure to climate change and enabled them to mitigate climate risks. The work we did allowed them to identify opportunity areas for advancing a sustainable business, plus it fit within the TCFD framework.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
As I mentioned earlier, seeing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina had a big impact on me. This, combined with what we’ve seen with global warming over the past few decades, has helped me focus on what I want to do with my life. I’ve been studying catastrophes since the 1980s and the impact that global warming has had is obvious. The increase in weather-related devastation and the extreme shifts we’ve seen in weather patterns — leading to drought, famine and flooding — is incredibly alarming.
It’s clear to me that, as a global society, we need to commit to taking tangible action to reverse the damage we’ve done. It needs to be done collectively, with governments and companies working together, in order to have the type of impact that is needed. I view it as responsible capitalism in order to save our planet.
How do you think this might change the world?
The work we do at Risilience is having a dramatically positive impact on our world. Our clients have committed to eliminating their greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. Collectively today, they emit 245 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. To put that in perspective, that’s equal to the emissions of the entire country of Spain. We’re helping them plan how best to achieve the elimination of this output from their factories and operations and to become carbon neutral.
Our ambition is to convince many more companies to use our analytics to reduce their emissions too. We’d like to achieve the elimination of 50 gigaton-years of carbon, which would reduce global warming by about a third of a degree centigrade. The main objective of the international Paris Agreement is to change the trajectory of global warming from its current trend, which will likely cause the planet to warm by 2.7° C, to a much safer level of 1.5° C. So, a reduction of a third of a degree would be around a quarter of the target reduction goal of 1.2° that is needed to make our planet safe.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
The global effort to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of fossil fuels will obviously have a positive impact on our environment. But our economic growth has mainly been dependent on consuming energy. So, if we end up not being able to replace the dirty energy with greener energy, and we decide not to use fossil fuels, then we could sacrifice some degree of economic growth for a cleaner world. The ideal, of course, is to preserve economic growth while transitioning to renewable energy sources and becoming more energy efficient.
The key is that we need other sources of energy, such as renewables or wind and solar power, to fill the gaps for our energy needs.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
To successfully make changes in how companies operate for the better, I recommend focusing on several key areas:
1. How do you identify what specific problem needs to be solved? In our case, we work with our clients to understand which parts of their business are producing the most emissions and which specific products, raw materials, and processes need most attention.
2. What resources can be applied to solve a specific problem? We then consider how much budget the company is willing to invest in cleaner technology or substituting new products and services.
3. What creative approaches can you use to fix the problem, such as analytics or remote sensing technologies? For example, we gather the data and information that companies need to identify the parts of their business that they can change.
4. What classes of problems can technology solve? We consider the technologies we know will be able to answer these questions, such as detailed data from satellite imagery and scientific, climate-forecasting models.
5. Is the technology scalable and can it be easily replicated by other companies? Packaging these datasets and analytics, and making them available throughout a software platform in the cloud enabled many companies to get access to the technology in a scalable way.
6. What is the impact of sharing these ideas? Tracking the way that companies use the information to change their business and how much carbon they manage to reduce tells us how effective the solution is overall.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
I would explain how important it is for this generation to tackle these serious issues. While climate change is the driver, deep down it’s about addressing systematic societal problems. By taking a leadership role in how businesses can enact change, specifically reducing our carbon footprint and adopting new forms of clean energy, we can produce a better world. Similarly, it’s important for this generation to examine investments in infrastructure and eco-friendly processes that will pay dividends to everyone.
For example, we work with Reckitt, a global hygiene, health and nutrition company that produces well-known brands including Lysol, Calgon, and Clearasil. We helped them adjust their product innovation and development, while at the same time reducing their environmental risks. This shows that you can run a pioneering business and make it environmentally friendly.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 😊
There are two people who come to mind who exemplify the types of leaders we need:
The first is Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock, which is one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory and risk management solutions. He’s a strong proponent of investing in companies that are changing the world, including driving sustainability and inclusivity. His 2022 Letter to CEOs,The Power of Capitalism, discusses the importance of delivering value to stakeholders, the value of building strong relationships between corporate leaders, employees, customers, suppliers, and communities that each company relies on to prosper.
The second person I’d want to spend time with is Greta Thunberg, who was selected asTIMEmagazine’sPerson of the Year in 2019 at the age of 16. The youngest recipient of this award, she has taken on many of the world’s most powerful leaders with her stance on climate change and the impact that the collective world and business leaders’ actions on the current generation. A charismatic individual at such a young age, I’d like to talk with her about how her generation thinks, what drives them, and how the current generation of business leaders can hand the reins to the next generation of business leaders.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers may follow our updates at Risilience at https://risilience.com/.
In addition, they can follow me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-coburn-214a675.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Thank you, Jilea. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with you on this important topic.
About the Interviewer: Jilea Hemmings is a staunch believer in the power of entrepreneurship. A successful career revamping Fortune 500 companies was not enough for her entrepreneurial spirit, so Jilea began focusing her passion in startups. She has successfully built 6 startups to date. Her passion for entrepreneurship continues to flourish with the development of Stretchy Hair Care, focusing on relieving the pain associated with detangling and styling natural black hair. For far too long, people with tender heads have suffered in pain. Until now.
