Investing in climate
change adaptation can help
reduce the financial risks of extreme weather,
water scarcity, declining agricultural productivity
and other impacts of climate change
New York, 20 June 2011
- Climate adaptation offers competitive
advantages to businesses worldwide, according
to the new report, Adapting for a Green
Economy: Companies, Communities and Climate
Change, jointly released by the UN Global
Compact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
Oxfam and the World Resources Institute.
In response to a survey
of global businesses, 86 percent described
responding to climate risks or investing
in adaptation as a business opportunity.
"Business can only
thrive in stable and enabling environments,"
said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the
UN Global Compact. "Climate adaptation
offers a pathway to help communities that
are already feeling the devastating impacts
of climate change. At the same time, it
creates a wealth of new opportunities for
the private sector."
Drawing on the results
of a 2010 survey among companies engaged
in Caring for Climate, the joint climate
action platform of the UN Global Compact
and UNEP, the study makes the business case
for private sector adaptation to climate
change in ways that build the resilience
of vulnerable communities in developing
countries. Already, businesses worldwide
are beginning to see the risks and economic
impacts of more frequent and intense storms,
water scarcity, declining agricultural productivity
and poor health.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director, said: "We
live in a world where extreme weather events
on one day can move food and fuel prices
the next, impacting vulnerable and poor
communities and a company's supply chain.
We also live in a world where infrastructure
established decades ago will become increasingly
at risk to events such as storm surges and
high winds, that in turn threaten the viability
of the business-as-usual models of the past,
and the profits or losses of firms for the
future."
"There are multiple
reasons why the world urgently needs a transition
to a low-carbon, resource efficient Green
Economy, including climate change and adapting
to its impacts. This report underlines that
climate-proofing is not just a responsibility
of governments, but should be at the centre
of more and more companies' business models
and forward-looking corporate strategies,"
he added.
The study suggests actions
that companies and policymakers can pursue
to catalyze and scale up private sector
engagement. Confirming the notion that the
climate threats many communities face are
also business risks, 83 percent of companies
surveyed responded that climate change impacts
pose a risk to their products and service.
"Businesses are
facing increasing challenges from the rise
in extreme weather events- such as droughts,
heat waves and floods," said Manish
Bapna, Managing Director, World Resources
Institute. "In this changing environment,
companies that move first to address the
risks and develop innovative strategies
to adapt to climate change are likely to
be the winners and gain a competitive advantage
moving forward."
The study recommends,
among others, that businesses integrate
climate adaptation into core strategic planning
and build a portfolio of climate-resilient
goods and services. Addressing policy makers,
the authors call for stronger policy and
finance commitments to adaptation, financial
and risk-reduction incentives to stimulate
the market, and for new forms of public-private
partnerships.
"Communities around
the world are already dealing with the impacts
of climate change," said Raymond C.
Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America.
"Since companies depend on community
members as suppliers, customers and employees,
and need to count on local services and
infrastructure to be able to operate efficiently,
the well-being of communities on the frontlines
of climate change and the viability of companies
are intricately intertwined."
The report can be found
at
http://unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/Environment/climate/C4C_Report_Adapting_for_Green_Economy.pdf.
