AstraZeneca
Strengthening a Puerto Rico manufacturing site against hurricane disruption
Climate-related operational risk: Hurricanes, tropical storms, power disruption, water disruption and supply interruptions
Solution pathway: Site hardening, backup energy, water storage, inventory buffering and business continuity planning
Business type: Large corporate 
Sector: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences manufacturing 
Geography: Puerto Rico
In practice
AstraZeneca responded by investing in resilience measures at a Puerto Rico manufacturing plant. The company’s approach included strengthening the site’s ability to operate through disruption, reducing dependence on the local grid, increasing water storage, and holding sufficient inventory to manage potential supply interruptions.
The measures included energy resilience through onsite generation and solar power, additional water storage to reduce exposure to utility disruption, and inventory planning designed to protect production continuity during a prolonged outage. Rather than treating hurricane risk as a one-off emergency issue, the site used resilience planning to reduce the chance that extreme weather would interrupt critical manufacturing operations.
Why this example was selected
This case study was selected because AstraZeneca’s Puerto Rico manufacturing resilience investment has been highlighted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as a business adaptation example in its Business Leaders Guide to Climate Adaptation and Resilience. The guide uses the case to show how physical climate risk can be integrated into supply-chain resilience and business assurance, including strategic inventory, site-level investment and operational continuity planning.
It is a strong Business Knowledge Hub example because it shows climate adaptation being built into a high-value manufacturing asset, rather than treated only as emergency response after a storm.
Key lesson
Businesses operating critical sites in climate-exposed regions can reduce disruption by investing in stronger facilities, backup utilities, water storage and contingency planning before extreme weather hits.
