Beijing's first high temperature day this year was reached. As of 6:5 on June 16, the temperature at the observatory rose to 35.5°C, reaching the standard of 35°C on a high temperature day. It is not only Beijing that is ushering in high temperatures, it is expected that many places in China will continue to "barbecue mode" in the coming week. According to China Weather Network, it is expected that from June 6 to 7, the high temperature range in the north will be further expanded, and the maximum temperature in northern China, northern Huanghuai and parts of the eastern part of the northwest region will reach 9 °C or above, and high temperatures may appear in large cities, as well as Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and other places. Recently, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places have also issued high temperature warnings.
Forecasters from the National Climate Center said that temperatures in most parts of China this summer are close to the same period of the year to high, but the high temperature conditions are weaker than in 2022, and meteorological droughts may still be frequent. This year's economic recovery, the number of orders and business volume of enterprises has surged, if the hot weather is not properly coped with may cause losses, how will enterprises answer this "baked roll"?
Multiple industries will be affected
Under high temperatures, the production and operation of enterprises may be affected. Song Xiangqing, deputy dean of the Institute of Government Management and director of the Industrial Economics Research Center of Beijing Normal University, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that high temperature restricts people's outdoor activities, so it will reduce the attendance and work efficiency of logistics industry employees, which in turn leads to slow transportation and distribution of raw materials and finished products, which may cause problems in the manufacturing supply chain.
However, Song Xiangqing also said that high temperature will not have much impact on the front end of the platform economy industrial chain, but due to the impact on the logistics and distribution industry, it will affect the service quality and efficiency of the platform economy, resulting in problems such as untimely distribution, backlog of goods, and increased rot and loss of food goods in the platform economy. "Service enterprises that rely on human services are generally not affected if they do not involve outdoor operations, but service-oriented enterprises involved in outdoor operations will also reduce service efficiency due to high temperatures, which may seriously lead to customer loss."
In addition, from the perspective of enterprise types, Song Xiangqing pointed out that high temperatures may lead to a contraction in the passenger flow or market of enterprises such as commercial and trade circulation, outdoor tourism projects, accommodation, construction, municipal construction enterprises, technology manufacturing and heavy industry. "At the same time, both enterprises and residential electricity consumption have increased, and high-energy-consuming enterprises such as steel companies, petrochemical enterprises, electronic manufacturing enterprises, non-ferrous metal enterprises, power enterprises, building materials enterprises, textile and paper enterprises may be affected by power supply." Song Xiangqing said, "Among them, the electricity consumption of the four major enterprises of iron and steel smelting, non-ferrous metals, building materials and petrochemical industry can account for a quarter of the electricity consumption of the whole society, which is a veritable 'electric tiger'." ”
From the perspective of 2022, some enterprises will indeed be affected by power supply problems. A relevant person in charge of a home appliance company told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that last year, under the high temperature, the company carried out measures to coordinate power and rent generators to ensure emergency orders and make way for residents. However, for this year's situation, the person in charge said that this year is ready and "should have little impact."
Play first-hand chess
"Extreme heat is a meteorological disaster that can cause many composite disasters." Zhou Bing, chief expert of climate services at the National Climate Center, once said in an interview with the media that in the summer of 2022, high temperature weather will have a major impact on agriculture, energy supply, transportation, production and life, human health, and ecological environment.
High temperatures affect a variety of enterprises, and in order to achieve "little impact", companies in many fields need to "prepare in advance". Song Xiangqing suggested that the operation time can be adjusted appropriately, the working time at night can be increased, the working time during the high temperature time during the day can be reduced, and the impact of high temperature on the human body can be avoided or reduced, and the work efficiency can also be improved. At the same time, artificial intelligence, robots, etc. can also be appropriately introduced for repetitive work to reduce dependence on people.
At present, there are already companies that have prepared corresponding countermeasures.
On the one hand, it is the guarantee of operational equipment. The Beijing Business Daily reporter learned from the relevant person in charge of Beijing Public Transport Group that Beijing Public Transport Group is taking multiple measures to prevent and respond to high temperature weather to ensure driving safety in high temperature weather, including the census and maintenance of electrical equipment in advance, at present, the air conditioning of more than 24000,<> operating vehicles has been overhauled.
On the other hand, it is the guarantee of staff. In terms of Beijing buses, the aforementioned person in charge told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that Beijing Bus will prepare items for drivers and masters to prevent heat and cool down in the bus station, including mung bean soup, and at the same time stipulate that the temperature of the carriage is higher than 26 °C to turn on the air conditioning. The person in charge of an aerospace high-tech enterprise also told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that its production line is operated indoors, and the indoor central air conditioner will also be "always on duty" during working hours, but it will also pay attention to the high temperature situation and the physical condition of employees at any time.
In addition, the artificial intelligence mentioned by Song Xiangqing has also been introduced to overcome high temperature pressure. Peng Jingjin, co-founder and chief system architect of Yushi Technology, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that recently, the company's unmanned vehicle product sales have increased. "Many airports and factories use our unmanned vehicle products, including automobile manufacturing plants, chemical plants, food factories, etc., to reduce the use of manpower in hot weather."
Social responsibility cannot be ignored
The arrival of the summer season, the ensuing heat wave affects business productivity, and will also bring direct economic losses. Globally, at the 5th World Meteorological Congress, which opened in Geneva on May 22, the latest WMO reported that between 19 and 1970, 2021,11778 disasters caused by extreme weather, climate and water-related events were reported around the world, causing economic losses of $4.3 trillion.
From China's point of view, Teng Fei, deputy director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics of Tsinghua University, once said in an interview with the media that if climate change is not addressed, the economic losses caused by climate change to China may account for 7.5% of GDP by the end of this century.
But at present, whether in China or the world, in the stage of economic recovery, economic growth is already under pressure. The latest World Economic Outlook report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the world economy will grow by 2023.2024% in 2 and 8% in 3, respectively, a growth rate of 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous forecast. Now that high temperature pressure is added, how should countries respond?
Recently, all countries have been actively responding to related issues. Companies from Peru to Singapore say they are preparing for the potential negative or beneficial effects of hot weather, including by building new drainage infrastructure on farms or having teams of analysts monitor food supply and demand. In addition, the communiqué of the World Meteorological Congress shows that a high-level dialogue will be held during the meeting to discuss accelerating and expanding the scope of action to ensure that weather warning services reach everyone on the planet by the end of 2027 to combat increasingly extreme and dangerous weather and climate change.
Back in China, to cope with the challenge of high temperature, in addition to the aforementioned various safeguard measures, enterprises should also pay attention to the protection of employees' rights and interests in extreme weather such as high temperature, which is not only corporate social responsibility, but also can avoid the cost of illegal payment for enterprises. To this end, Song Xiangqing suggested that enterprises protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers in accordance with the law, strengthen the personal protection of workers in outdoor high temperature environments, do a good job in prevention, and increase high temperature subsidies to ensure that high temperature workers can work safely and efficiently.
In addition, Song Xiangqing pointed out that government departments also need to strengthen early warning of high temperature weather, especially for extreme high temperature weather, remind units and individuals to do a good job in safety protection, and give more policy support to high temperature workers in the fields of medical treatment and health care, so as to reflect the care of the government and society.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Fang Binnan and Ran Lili