Why do we only talk about climate change during a heatwave?

This week, the UK recorded its hottest May temperatures since records began. Temperatures exceeded 35°C in parts of England, breaking a record that had stood since 1922.

For a few days, climate change becomes impossible to ignore.

It dominates the headlines, people start talking about how unusual the weather feels, businesses begin discussing resilience, and suddenly the issue feels immediate again. Then the weather changes, the news cycle moves on, and the conversation fades with it.

That, to me, is part of the problem.

We still tend to treat climate as an event rather than a long-term operational reality. The heatwave becomes the story, but the real story is what sits underneath it.

Because while most people experience a heatwave as inconvenience, many industries experience it as operational pressure.

Farming is one of the clearest examples. Unseasonably high spring temperatures can accelerate crop stress, reduce soil moisture and create difficult growing conditions far earlier in the year than expected. Livestock productivity can fall during prolonged heat, water demand rises sharply, and harvest predictability becomes harder to manage.

For many farmers, this is no longer theoretical. It affects planning, insurance, forecasting, input costs and supply stability. And farming is far from alone. Logistics, manufacturing, construction and energy-intensive industries are all becoming increasingly exposed to weather volatility and resource pressure in ways that directly affect commercial performance.

This is why I think many businesses still misunderstand sustainability.

They see it as reporting, compliance or reputation management, when in reality it is increasingly about operational visibility and resilience. The businesses that will navigate this environment best are not necessarily the ones talking about sustainability the most. They are the ones building better understanding of their operations, supply chains, risks and dependencies.

Better data leads to better decisions.

That sounds obvious, but most businesses are still operating with surprisingly limited visibility into where inefficiencies, vulnerabilities and future pressures actually exist. Sustainability, when approached properly, helps reveal those gaps.

And that is where the commercial value starts to appear.

The reality is that climate-related disruption is becoming part of normal business conditions, whether that is heat, flooding, supply chain instability, energy volatility or changing regulation. The question is no longer whether businesses should engage with sustainability. The real question is whether they can afford not to understand the operational risks and opportunities sitting underneath it.

Heatwaves simply make those issues visible for a few days.

The smarter businesses are already paying attention long before the temperature reaches 35°C.