How chambers of commerce can strengthen small business resilience in emergencies

Disasters – ranging from earthquakes or floods to cyberattacks – create rapid, unexpected disruptions that demand contingency planning and collaborative preparation. Natural catastrophes, in particular, have increased five-fold over the past 50 years, on average occurring once a day, and SMEs – which account for approximately 90% of all firms and 70% of the global GDP and workforce employment – are often underprepared. When disaster strikes, SMEs experience up to 74% of total business losses, signalling low awareness, limited capacity to manage risk effectively and insufficient external support.

The Stronger together in emergencies guide addresses this critical vulnerability by positioning chambers of commerce – trusted business organisations and conveners in their respective regions – at the heart of SME emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

Published by the International Chamber of Commerce World Chambers Federation, the 2025 guide features recommendations, actions, case studies and practical resources to help chambers provide emergency preparedness tools as well as quick and efficient post-disaster support to ensure business continuity, reopening and rebuilding.

These include:

Critically, the guide fills the current gap in emergency programmes, where protocols and frameworks often only focus on humanitarian needs without business continuity considerations.

The guide addresses any emergency or disaster situation that creates a serious disruption affecting businesses, including:

• Natural disasters such as floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes
• Human-caused hazards such as industrial and transport accidents (fires, explosions, toxic spills, etc.)
• Physical security-related situations such as hostage taking, active shooters, riots and terrorism
• Technology-related hazards like cyber security risks, power outages or equipment failure
• Public health emergencies such as epidemics and pandemics.

While chambers are member-based organisations, the guide emphasises the importance of supporting the entire business community. Making the resources widely available not only strengthens local economic resilience but also demonstrates chamber value to the community and builds goodwill among prospective members.

A key recommendation of the guide is also for every chamber to establish an emergency preparedness plan for its building, staff, digital infrastructure and other critical assets in an effort to lead by example.

Should you have any further questions or wish to receive a copy of the 2017 edition, please contact us.