Part I: A Look Ahead at Our Changing Environment and Global Need for Robust Data Solutions

The world is preparing for a changing climate and robust data science solutions will be required for innovation and accountability. Skytec leaders CEO Bill Rogers and CTO Andy Carroll weigh in on trends in corporate sustainability initiatives and the need for dynamic data solutions in this two-part blog series.

Anticipating the Impact of Climate Change on Global Markets

Businesses, societies, and governments around the globe are on the verge of a sea change. Humans, and global corporations, are now accepting that our climate is changing and if action is not taken, the impacts could be severe. Industry and governments are awakening to actionable environmental agendas that plan for the future while allowing for growth of emerging sectors and overall societal movement towards sustainability.

In addition, financial markets and industry are realizing that millennials and younger generations represent future customers and employees. Millennials are “belief-driven buyers” and are demanding change. The markets are responding accordingly with action and those leading the way will garner more positive attention and growth. Those that ignore these stakeholders do so at their own peril.

A New Generation of Consumers in Control

Millennials have many useful tools at their disposal, and they aren’t afraid to use them. Social media platforms allow for quick, effective communication and action. Whether it be a collective rally cry, pushing back on corporate directives, or driving action for more sustainability and resource management initiatives, millennials are demanding change and taking action.

Millennials also stand to inherit tremendous buying power in the coming years. A Coldwell Banker study determined that by 2030, millennials will inherit $68 trillion dollars’ worth of wealth from their Baby Boomer parents. According to Forbes, “in no prior time in the history of America has such a vast amount of wealth moved through the hands of generations.” With ever-increasing communication tools and wealth to drive change, these stakeholders represent significant power as they are the consumers and board members of the future. Financial markets are understanding this and responding accordingly.

In early 2020, CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink raised the alarm that “climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.” The impact of an inhospitable climate is now discussed as a possible disrupter such as a financial crisis itself. Fink also stated that “climate change is almost invariably the top issue that clients around the world raise with BlackRock.”

At the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, global leaders echoed similar sentiments as they outlined the major concerns for long-term risk—and the risks were all related to climate change and environmental destruction, which predates the COVID-19 pandemic and an otherwise tumultuous year of uncertainty. The financial world braced for the potential market impacts while preparing and responding to the needs of the millennial investor of the future.

Adapting to New Realities

With the financial markets stepping up, the priority of preparing for environmental impacts and millennial demands for accountability, world markets are preparing to spend trillions of dollars on initiatives to prepare for these new realities. Sustainability and resource managers will become key players on every C-suite corridor. Daunting tasks such as moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy have begun but will be slow and costly to fully implement.

Global corporations are being held responsible for reducing carbon emissions, including facing pressure to disclose their carbon footprint and how they consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. A more progressive European community has looked at implementing a carbon tax to further spur effective change; however, in the end, all of these initiatives come at a price and the progress toward success or failure will need to be closely monitored.

Monitoring the Health of Our Planet and Future

At Skytec, our goal is to play a leading role in the advancement and implementation of data science initiatives that support the current and exponential demand for environmental information.

“Over the last five years, Skytec has specialized in gathering high-end LiDAR data with unmanned systems and delivering information through the latest GIS platforms,” Skytec CTO Andy Carroll says. “This data is allowing engineers and scientists to examine their work sites at the micro level for design and monitoring purposes. At the same time, we are focused on advancing analytics at the macro scale, utilizing satellite imagery and specialized sensor technologies to assist our clients in monitoring change detection, plant health, oversee project development, intelligence gathering, or map environmental impacts from catastrophic events.”

With this “top-down measurement” approach, Skytec leaders have built a multi-scale, multi-temporal solution called Ranger™ that is producing valuable insights at higher rates.

“Ranger provides robust data science to organizations that want to closely monitor and better manage their substantial investments, assets, and resources,” Skytec CEO Bill Rogers says. “If businesses and governments around the world have started moving more quickly toward this watershed moment, then the need for information in which to make informed decisions will be at a premium.”

Skytec is well prepared to meet the ever-growing demand for data science and is looking forward to making a collaborative impact on positive environmental change. The world is on the move and the stakes are too high not to act quickly.

Learn more about Ranger and Skytec’s dynamic, remote monitoring services. Contact us today to get started.

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[1]Semuels, Alana, “’Rampant Consumerism Is Not Attractive.’ Patagonia Is Climbing to the Top – and Reimagining Capitalism Along the Way,” Time Magazine, September 23, 2019
[2]“A Look At Wealth 2019 – Millennial Millionaires,” Coldwell Banker, October 16, 2019
[3] Hall, Mark, “The Greatest Wealth Transfer In History: What’s Happening And What Are The Implications,” Forbes, November 11, 2019
[4] Fink, Larry, “A Fundamental Reshaping of Finance,” BlackRock, 2020
[5]Ip, Greg, “For the Economy, Climate Risks Are No Longer Theoretical,” The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2020