Q&A with the experts: Climate change resilience - small businesses as part of a sustainable recovery

What are the implications of the pandemic response for climate action and sustainable recovery?

We don’t yet know how this pandemic will impact where climate change action falls on people’s list of priorities, but there’s reason to be hopeful. In the past year we have seen the largest climate change mass mobilizations in history. There seems to be a higher level of awareness about the impacts of climate change, and there is hope that people will call for both economic recovery and responses to climate change.

The pandemic also brings into focus what we want for our communities and what a sustainable community should look like.  Some cities are taking the opportunity to rapidly expand their active transportation and mass transit infrastructure. In some cases, COVID 19 is drawing attention to pre-existing social and economic inequalities; marginalized groups are more exposed to the virus, receive poorer health care and are more likely to suffer financial hardships. These inequalities were always there, but the pandemic has made it worse and makes a strong case for justice and equity to be part of a sustainable recovery.

What steps can governments and businesses take to align pandemic responses with sustainability and climate change efforts?

Throughout this pandemic it has become even more apparent that sustainability is central to making our communities resilient. At the federal level, there will be billions of dollars for economic stimulus. The question is: how will the money be spent? Every time we decide to invest new dollars in fossil-based energy systems and carbon-intensive urban design, we lock ourselves into these systems for decades. This is time we don’t have, and these are lost opportunities for “building back better”. I have seen some promising initiatives from the federal government, for instance loans to large firms that are being tied to emissions reductions and sustainability outcomes.

My team and I study small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because, while not all are making significant progress on climate change and sustainability, there are many that are spectacularly innovative. These innovative firms are coming up with solutions for reducing their own carbon footprints, for being inclusive in their hiring practices, or for creating products and services that can change the emissions trajectory of communities.

I really admire these SMEs, and it is heartbreaking to see them being so negatively impacted by the pandemic response. As small firms go out of business, it is hard for them to spring back up. We are seeing the potential for a tragic loss in the richness and diversity of our small business community. There are measures being taken federally to support them, but I don’t think it’s enough, and a lot of them fall between the cracks of what is being implemented federally.

How have you adapted your research as a result of the pandemic?

Our underlying research focus has not changed. However, my partners and I got together about a month into the lockdown to talk about the priorities and timelines for our research. We decided the pandemic is pushing us away from focusing on traditional scholarly contributions to valuing more rapid, applied work. As a result, we launched a rapid research team to do a quick assessment of all the different sustainable business practices and models that we’re seeing around the world.

Before the pandemic, we weren’t taking a disruption or a shock lens to business and sustainability. Now we want to know if sustainable business practices and models make businesses more resilient during circumstances like this pandemic. Ultimately, we want to provide businesses with feedback on ways to adapt sustainably during the pandemic, and to provide some early advice to the federal and provincial governments on how to support a more resilient small business community.

Going forward, I’m curious to see if COVID will affect the business models of small firms. Will their reason for being, and the way they create value, shift as a result of the pandemic, or will there be more incremental adaptations to make sure that they stay afloat? I’m sure we’ll see some of both. Overall, it’s a tough time for small businesses and researchers.