The extreme heat experienced in Melbourne between January 14 and 17 this year is estimated to have cost businesses in the municipality approximately $37 million in lost revenue, according to new City of Melbourne research.
The findings are part of research commissioned by the City of Melbourne as part of its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. With the frequency and intensity of heatwaves expected to increase, an understanding of the economic impacts of such events on businesses is needed.
A survey of more than 600 local businesses found an overall decline in revenue of almost 10 per cent. The sectors which were impacted the most were retail, food and beverage and accommodation, with 78 per cent of these types of businesses impacted.
Other key findings from the research include:
• 59 per cent reported an impact on the comfort, motivation or moral of their workforce
• 40 per cent reported an impact on the reliability of their workforce
• 62 per cent of businesses experienced additional operational costs (such as increased air-conditioning operation) Seven per cent reported air-conditioning failures.
The research also indicated four in 10 businesses (44 per cent) took action to help staff cope with the heat, such as letting their staff start or finish earlier (7 per cent) and buying cold drinks or fans to keep staff cool
More than half of businesses (52 per cent) are very or fairly concerned about future heat wave impacts on their business, reinforcing the need for City of Melbourne to continue to work with others to adapt our city to a changing climate.
City of Melbourne Environment portfolio chair, Councillor Arron Wood, said Council is firmly focused on building Melbourne’s resilience to climate impacts.
“We’re doubling tree canopy cover for our urban forest, upgrading drainage infrastructure, funding more energy efficient buildings, implementing planning processes to minimise climate risk and installing various water-sensitive urban design initiatives. Heatwaves don’t only impact our city economically, heat related illness also kills more Australian’s each year than any other natural disaster so City of Melbourne has identified this as a priority issue we must prepare better for,” Cr Wood said.
“In December 2013 the Rockefeller Foundation announced Melbourne as one of the first 33 cities to participate in its 100 Resilient Cities Program. This program is a significant opportunity to further enhance Melbourne’s ability to cope with heat waves like the one we experienced in January.”
As part of this program Melbourne will receive support to recruit a Chief Resilience Officer whose role will be to create a Resilience Strategy for metropolitan Melbourne. On Tuesday industry experts will gather to pinpoint what Melbourne needs to become a more resilient city.
The City of Melbourne will also host a Melbourne Conversations event at Deakin Edge, Federation Square on Monday 31 March (6.00pm-7.30pm). Speakers will discuss the heat wave impacts on Melbourne's community and infrastructure, what we've learnt, how to cope and how we can build our city's resilience.
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