• The European Union advised citizens to stockpile 72 hours of supplies for potential crises.
• It's part of a wider strategy to enhance Europe's response to emerging threats.
• Experts advise stockpiling supplies to last much longer than 72 hours.

The European Union issued a stark new advisory on Wednesday, advising people to stockpile 72 hours' worth of supplies in case of "threats and crises."

It's part of a wide-ranging strategy designed to "enhance Europe's capability to prevent and respond to emerging threats," the statement said.

While the EU did not specifically mention the war in Ukraine, it comes amid growing concerns over Russian aggression.

"We face an increasing number of external security challenges and a growing number of hybrid attacks in our common European space," said Kaja Kallas, the EU's representative for foreign affairs and security.

The EU's strategy involves disaster preparation at the level of international and military cooperation, and for essential services such as hospitals, schools, and telecommunications.

Its most eye-catching advice — at least for the EU's 450 million people — is for everyone to have an emergency stockpile of supplies.

Stockpile what?

Unlike well-prepared American families in the path of hurricanes, Europeans have not typically made it a priority to draw up plans for emergencies, said Lucy Easthope, a leading advisor in emergency planning and disaster recovery.

Seventy-two hours of supplies has long been the standard advice issued by authorities in many countries, she told Business Insider. "The problem with the messaging today is it's not really fit for anything other than probably a short weather or power-based outage."

The EU's preparedness and crisis management commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, said it's up to each member state to define what to stockpile "according to their geographical and geostrategic positions."

Ilan Kelman, a professor of disaster and health at University College London, outlined some basic advice to BI — like keeping plenty of bottled water on hand.

"That's for drinking, it's also for hand washing, for toilets and other hygiene needs," he said.

About a gallon of water per person a day is needed just for drinking, according to Swrajit Sarkar, a specialist in emergency nutrition at City St George's, University of London.

He said that ideally, all five main food groups should be covered across non-perishable items including nuts, lentils, dried fruits, and canned beans.

For dairy alternatives, Sarkar recommended powdered or ultra-heat-treated milk — and for cheese lovers, he said that waxed cheeses, like Babybel or Gouda, have a very long shelf life.

Granola or protein bars keep well, make good snacks and deliver energy, too, Sarkar said. He also suggests dark chocolate, as studies prove it's a mood booster.

Kelman said basic grain staples such as rice or pasta store well, but aren't easy to cook if there's no electricity.

Meats or fish should be smoked or otherwise preserved — and he advised keeping plenty of starches such as bread and crackers.

Non-food items

Kelman said people should try to ensure they have a radio — either battery-powered or wind-up.

Outgoing communication is "a lot more challenging" unless people want to invest in walkie-talkies or shortwave outgoing radios, he said.

Hygiene items such as sanitary pads, soap, and nappies, as well as first aid kits and essential medicine, are also a must, Kelman added.

And light — and power — are important. "I have a power bank for my phone," Easthope said. "I have a solar-powered light, solar-powered torches, chargeable torches."

For safety reasons, she recommended avoiding candles or indoor portable cookers if at all possible.

Easthope also recommended having essential documents, like passports and insurance papers, on hand.

What's often forgotten is morale. "It's very, very important to keep the mind busy," she said. Coloring books, knitting, and board games — any entertainment that doesn't use electricity — are a godsend for people in a heightened state of anxiety.

72 hours as the bare minimum

Kelman advised stocking up for at least two weeks: "If we do end up in a regional or even full-scale military conflict, then there is not a chance that 72 hours of supplies is going to last anyone."

Anything that takes out the power grid — such as a missile strike, or a solar flare — could take weeks to fix, he added.

Yet even asking people to have three days of extra food in reserve may be beyond the continent's least well-off, Kelman said.

He added: "The tragedy is that many people cannot afford to put enough food on the table every day, so making demands that they should have 72 hours — or two weeks — of supplies is untenable in today's economic environment."

• One of Biden's top DEI chiefs said she wants to dispel "myths" amid Trump's rollback of the practice.
• Alaysia Black Hackett told Business Insider that corporations should hold firm to DEI practices.
• She said that companies are now reaching out to her for advice.

A former DEI chief who served in the Biden administration wants to "dispel a lot of the myths" swirling around diversity initiatives.

These include the idea that DEI hires aren't recruited on merit, or that diversity initiatives are only aimed at benefiting Black People, said Alaysia Black Hackett, who served as the Department of Labor's chief diversity and equity officer before resigning last month.

"It is not: 'You have to make sure you have a woman in a leadership position," Black Hackett said in an interview with Business Insider. "It is looking at the data to say: 'What groups of people are we missing and how can this be a detriment to the service?'"

The sentiment toward DEI has been shifting in recent months. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of people who see DEI as a positive fell from 56% to 52% between February 2023 and October 2024. At the same time, those who saw it as a bad thing grew from 16% to 21%.

But Black Hackett says the field is misunderstood, in part thanks to a tough media environment, and the Biden administration not being good at touting its own achievements. She said she believes people don't want to understand what diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility really stand for.

"People want to hate it because it seemed to benefit one race of people more than it fits another," she said.

What does DEI do?

During her two and a half years in the Biden administration, Black Hackett said federal hiring initiatives were merit-based and designed to "ensure that our internal federal workforce mirrored the communities that we serve."

If federal bodies lacked diversity of thought, "we're going to miss something," she said.

Black Hackett described much of her work as being aimed at making sure that federal funding filtered through to people who are either under-resourced, or are in historically underrepresented groups.

Much of her work focused on determining how federal funding could effectively reach marginalized communities. This included identifying rural communities that needed better internet access — a fixture in Biden's infrastructure law in 2021.

"When you look at data about rural communities, you will see that it's not typically inundated with people of color," she said, adding that "most Americans fit under at least one of the categories under DEIA."

Impact on corporate DEI

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month ending DEI programs in the federal government. The Trump administration has said DEI "divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."

Trump has directed federal agencies to compile lists of private companies' DEI efforts, and many, including Meta and Walmart, have decided to roll back or end their DEI programs. Others, like JP Morgan and Costco, have not altered course on their diversity policies.

Black Hackett said that companies are reaching out to her for advice.

"I have small business owners who are asking me: 'Alaysia, what do I do? What direction is this going to impact me?'" she said.

She said that companies feeling cowed should "bunker down, stand up for what's right, and look at your data" to see the benefits.

"Productivity goes up," she said. "Statistics show that. People are more productive if they feel like they're welcome in their environment, their thoughts, their opinions."

A 2022 report by the International Labor Organization said that DEI can add value to businesses through increased employee productivity, stronger collaboration with colleagues, and improved well-being.

The recent DEI rollback could make people become "afraid to even show up as their authentic selves," Black Hackett said.

Even so, she feels positive about the future of DEI initiatives.

"What I will say, and I will say it quite candidly, is DEIA is resilient," she said. "The work doesn't stop."

The White House didn't reply to a request for comment.