Disruption is no longer the exception; it’s the operating environment. From shifting tariffs and elections to changing trade routes, energy security, and climate impacts, EHS leaders are being asked to deliver resilience while the ground is moving under their feet. Season 2, Episode 1 of our Rethinking EHS podcast takes on this reality head-on.
In this Q&A-style recap, three leaders from across the Inogen Alliance network, Anqelique Dickson, President of Inogen Alliance and EVP at Antea Group USA; Lida Tan, President, Anew Global Consulting in China; and Alex Ferguson, CEO of Antea Group UK, share regional perspectives and practical advice for companies navigating uncertainty while keeping people, planet, and performance in balance.
Listen to the full podcast episode here.
Q: What does the geopolitical EHS landscape look like in your region right now?
Lida Tan (China/APAC): Recent elections and tariff shifts have had a chilling effect. Many companies hit “pause,” then quickly moved to scenario-planning: diversifying supplier bases, exploring new APAC locations, and asking for true regional expertise, not just a country-by-country view. We’ve seen demand for multi-country compliance guidance rise significantly as organizations work out the practicalities on the ground.
Alex Ferguson (UK/Europe): In Europe, tariffs are a layer on top of bigger structural forces: defense and energy security, systemic supply chain recalibration, and the infrastructure needed to support renewables. You’ll hear more about linear energy transmission and cross-border infrastructure in the coming years. Regulatory alignment remains strong on core EHS, but the drivers are increasingly security and reliability led.
Angie Dickson (USA): The defining feature is disruption, and not just in the U.S. South America is also in flux. In the U.S., expect a swing toward state-led variability. That creates complexity for multinationals and puts a premium on local expertise plus a pragmatic, forward-looking view of climate mitigation and resilience.
Q: Amid the noise, where do you see leadership?
Lida: Tech leaders continue to move, perhaps more quietly, but still investing, piloting, and scaling. The middle of the market is cautious, watching closely but not retreating. The top 5–10% of companies that were leading still are.
Alex: We’re seeing energy innovation become mainstream, small modular reactors entering serious discussion, new approaches to hydrogen, ammonia, storage, and grid reinforcement. Logistics is also pivoting, routes are changing, and defense-related storage and movement needs are reshaping footprints. These shifts bring classic EHS questions such as permitting, biodiversity, contamination into new geographies and timelines.
Angie: Consumer brands are still pulled by stakeholder expectations, and customers and investors continue to expect responsible performance. Even when rules ease, “minimum compliance” rarely satisfies the market. Leaders are sticking with commitments, pacing execution, and designing programs for credibility and long-term value.
Q: How should companies communicate and operate when the “labels” (ESG, sustainability, climate) are politically charged?
Alex: Don’t chase labels, anchor in values and risk. If “climate adaptation” is controversial in your market, talk about extreme weather preparedness and asset protection. The work is the work: protecting people and continuity. Language can change without changing substance.
Lida: When companies expand into new APAC locations, compliance comes first. Then we share peer practices, water efficiency, energy management, worker well-being. We avoid trigger words and focus on business value: less water, lower energy, safer operations.
Angie: Keep global principles steady (your values and outcomes), while localizing action to regulatory and social reality. That balance prevents wheel-spinning and keeps programs moving forward where it matters most.
Q: What practical moves should EHS leaders prioritize right now?
Alex:
- Reconfirm enterprise values and let them guide decisions, even as the narrative shifts.
- Reframe risk in business terms (operational uptime, asset integrity, workforce safety).
- Borrow solutions across geographies and sectors, learn from water-stressed regions or flood-savvy countries and translate for your sites.
Lida:
- Build a two-to-five-year playbook for market entries and shifts, start with legal baseline, then add performance enhancers.
- Use local partners who know the politics, regulators, and culture.
- Sequence adoption: get stable, then layer in efficiency and resilience measures that pay back quickly.
Angie:
- Go local to move fast: prioritize the sites and jurisdictions where changes hit first.
- Protect the core: people, water/energy access, and critical supplier relationships.
- Measure credibility: track outcomes your stakeholders value and can verify.
Q: What’s permanent, what’s cyclical, and how should leaders plan time horizons?
Alex: Some shifts feel permanent: trade realignments and climate impacts. Political cycles will continue, but water scarcity, heat, and storm intensity are real operational variables now. Plan for that reality, then adjust the narrative as needed.
Lida: Expect a two-to-three-year progression when entering new countries: stabilize compliance, then operationalize efficiency and stewardship. Build that ramp into your portfolio plans.
Angie: Treat disruptions as resource drains, focus on the essentials and expand once stable. A modular global framework with local execution gives you both consistency and speed.
Q: What themes will define the next wave of EHS strategy?
Lida: Water is the next frontier, availability, quality, and basin competition. You can’t operate without it. At the same time, alternative energy adoption is accelerating, not just in labs but on city streets and factory floors.
Alex: Energy infrastructure will dominate Europe: connecting renewables, storage, and flexible generation. Expect more linear projects and permitting challenges and a premium on biodiversity integration and community engagement.
Angie: Don’t forget people. Talent scarcity, skills shifts, and safety expectations are strategic risks. Investing in your workforce, health, safety, and capability, remains foundational to resilience.
Q: How would you explain this to a non-EHS-expert?
Lida: We help companies work safely and efficiently wherever they operate, even when the rules and risks change.
Alex: Weather is changing, and supply routes are moving, our job is to protect people and assets so businesses can keep serving communities.
Angie: It’s about doing the right thing and the smart thing, building companies that last by caring for their people and resources.
Conclusion & Key Takeaways
- Lead with values; flex the vocabulary. Stick to what your company stands for, safety, reliability, stewardship, and frame the work in operational terms that resonate locally.
- Local execution, global spine. Keep a consistent global intent but empower regions to move quickly within their regulatory and social contexts.
- Water, energy, people are the non-negotiables. Treat water security, energy reliability, and workforce safety as strategic pillars, not projects.
- Plan for permanence, pace for politics. Trade routes and climate conditions are long-run realities; political cycles change how you talk about them, not whether you act.
- Borrow boldly. Apply lessons from other industries and countries, and don’t reinvent flood, drought, or heat playbooks.
- Measure what matters. Track and share outcomes your stakeholders trust: uptime, incident reduction, water/energy intensity, and community impact.
Uncertainty isn’t a reason to slow down; it’s a mandate to get sharper. By anchoring in values, focusing on the essentials, and leveraging local expertise across a global network, EHS leaders can turn disruption into durable advantage.
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