Commentary on the island security premium and ESG disclosure obligations for corporations with island operations.
Commentary on the island security premium and ESG disclosure obligations for corporations with island operations. Free under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 — no registration required.
Summary of the paper
"Security, Risk, and ESG in Island Operations" is an ISPI commentary for corporations operating in Hawaii and the Pacific. It argues that standard continental frameworks for corporate security and ESG risk assessment were not designed for island operating environments.
The commentary sets out structural differences in supply chains, hospitality workforce access, emergency preparedness duty of care and indigenous community accountability, and recommends island-calibrated assessments in place of continental assessments with island footnotes.
What the paper finds
- Continuity planning assumes alternative sourcing. Continental business continuity plans assume short disruptions with alternative suppliers; island operations can face longer disruptions with no alternative when port infrastructure is damaged.
- Hospitality access creates insider risk. Broad physical access footprints and small-community social density create insider threat profiles that standard corporate frameworks do not address.
- Mainland emergency templates create exposure. The commentary treats unmodified mainland templates as both a safety gap and a legal exposure, noting that Lahaina wildfire litigation was resolved in a $4.037 billion global settlement in 2024.
- Land acknowledgment is not accountability. ESG approaches that stop at a land acknowledgment expose companies to reputational and regulatory risk.
What it recommends
- Conduct island-calibrated security and ESG risk assessments for all Hawaii and Pacific Island operations.
- Engage Native Hawaiian governance bodies as genuine partners on ESG accountability.
- Commission independent corporate security assessments covering supply chain vulnerability, hospitality insider threat, emergency preparedness duty of care and indigenous community ESG accountability.
Who it's for
Corporate security directors, risk and ESG officers, hotel and resort operators, and boards of companies with operations in Hawaii and the Pacific.
This research connects to the 39 Small Island Developing States worldwide through the Samoa Pathway and BPOA+30 framework. Every ISPI research product carries a mandatory SIDS global bridge per the ISPI Research Architecture.
Cite as
Pulley, Warren (2026). Security, Risk, and ESG in Island Operations: What Corporations Operating in Hawaii and the Pacific Must Know (ISPI CM-05). Island Security Policy Institute, Honolulu. https://ispiglobal.com/papers-landing/cm05-corporate-security-esg https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23449910
BibTeX
@techreport{ispicm052026,
author = {Pulley, Warren},
title = {Security, Risk, and ESG in Island Operations: What Corporations Operating in Hawaii and the Pacific Must Know},
institution = {Island Security Policy Institute},
address = {Honolulu, HI},
number = {ISPI CM-05},
year = {2026},
url = {https://ispiglobal.com/papers-landing/cm05-corporate-security-esg},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23449910}
}Related analysis
AnalysisWhy Corporations Operating on Islands Commission Independent Security Research →AnalysisWhat Is the Island Security Premium? Understanding ESG Risk in Pacific and Caribbean Island Operations →AnalysisDuty of Care for Island Resort Operators: What the Lahaina Litigation and Hurricane Lala Established →PaperCM-04 — AI and Public Safety in Island Communities →PaperCM-06 — Climate Security and Island Public Safety →GuideIsland Supply Chain Security & Community Resilience: Research and FAQ →Pulley, Warren. "Corporate Security and ESG in Island Operations." Island Security Policy Institute, 2026. https://ispiglobal.com/papers-landing/cm05-corporate-security-esg
