How organizations use Climate Spotlight for strategic sustainability

Staying ahead of climate risk is more than just a regulatory requirement, it can be a cornerstone of strategic leadership in construction. For W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, that means embracing innovative tools and fostering resilient practices. Elena Skorupan, Director of Environmental and Social Sustainability, has led her team to adopt Zurich Resilience Solutions’ Climate Spotlight, a tool helping transform the way the business thinks about risk, resilience, and the future. Her experience shows how thoughtful leadership and the right resources empower organizations to meet tomorrow’s challenges, starting today.

Discovery and Initial Motivation

The journey began last July at the AGC Sustainability Round Table in Arlington, Virginia, where the Climate Spotlight tool was introduced to Elena Skorupan, Director of Environmental and Social Sustainability - W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, by a Zurich Resilience Solutions representative. With new climate-related regulations on the horizon, specifically California’s SB 261 risk disclosure legislation, the company needed a practical way to assess and report climate risks across its portfolio. “We have been working on the reporting in-house, and while I have access to the resources I need for risks related to safety and personnel, I didn’t have resources to make the assessments for climate related events,” she reflected. “The Climate Spotlight product was perfect. I was able to run reports across our multiple locations and look at where we’d be impacted most.”

The Climate Spotlight Tool is an interactive climate risk dashboard that uses Zurich’s proprietary climate data and market-leading risk analysis methodology to help organizations chart evolving climate risks, model future climate scenarios, quantify potential impacts, and make confident investment and adaptation decisions. The tool provides clear, location-specific insights into potential exposures for more than 15 weather perils, such as heatwaves, flooding, storm surge, precipitation, hail, wind, cold, drought, and sea level rise, enabling customers to understand their risks at both the portfolio and individual location level, prioritize action, and build resilience against climate impacts now and in the future.

While her company manages a mix of owned and leased offices, the Climate Spotlight product provided clear visibility on location-specific exposures. “For organizations with an extensive portfolio, this product can be such a great resource to really think forward about potential climate risks, escalation of insurance premiums, and how we can future-proof operations,” she said.