Business
Useful sources of information on climate change adaptation for businesses.
Saving and making money in a changing climate
Climate East Midlands has published a guide to help businesses adapt to climate change called "Weathering the storm: saving and making money in a changing climate". The guide is mainly aimed at SMEs, but contains information that will be relevant to many other kinds of organisations. The guide is very accessible and assumes no prior knowledge. It covers:
What do I need to know?
- What are the effects of a changing climate likely to be?
- Are the weather and climate relevant to my business?
What can I do to prepare?
- What's in it for my business?
- Insurance
- Premises
- People
- Utilities
- IT and security of data
- Suppliers, logistics and delivery
- Products, processes, stock and raw materials
- The agricultural and horticultural rural business
- Emergency contacts and important documents
The guide also covers opportunities for businesses that climate change may make possible, and links to useful tools and further information.
East Midlands Mayday Network
The aim of the Mayday Network is to support businesses and organisations on their own journey to become more sustainable, helping them work together, share knowledge and leverage business opportunities by moving towards a sustainable future. The Mayday Network is free to join.
Flood risk and flood warnings
Use the Environment Agency website to find out whether your business is at risk of flooding, and sign up for flood warnings. The Environment Agency also provides advice about how to prepare for flooding, and what to do when there is a flood.
Tools
The Business Resilience Healthcheck has been developed by Business in the Community to help businesses become more resilient to the risks they will face both now and in the future.
The Climate Resilience Toolkit has been designed by Defra and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants to prepare businesses for both climate risks and opportunities.
UKCIP's Climate Adaptation Resource for Advisors (CLARA) is aimed at helping business advisors to support SMEs in understanding and preparing for the impacts of climate change.
UKCIP's Business Areas Climate Impacts Assessment Tool (BACLIAT) helps users explore the implications of climate change for their business or sector.
Reports and publications
"Changing work in a changing climate" published by the Trades Union Congress, looks at the implications of climate change for employment. This is a useful report with a different angle in that it distinguishes between outward-facing and inward-facing approaches to adaptation by organisations. While outward-facing adaptation is primarily driven by strategic or commercial risks and opportunities facing an organisation, inward-facing adaptation is primarily driven by an understanding of the wider climate risks to employees and opportunities for creating better quality jobs.
"Adapting to an uncertain climate: a world of commercial opportunities" is a report commissioned by UK Trade and Investment, which examines how global businesses are adapting to the anticipated changes in the global climate and the potential business opportunities and risks this entails. The report is based on a survey of over 700 global businesses across a range of sectors.
"Adapting to Climate Change: a business approach" published by the Pew Center in the USA, focuses on large national and multi-national companies.
"The financial risks of climate change" published by the Association of British Insurers, examines the financial implications of climate change using climate models and insurance catastrophe risk models.
"Preparing the UK for climate change" is the Association of British Insurers' adaptation strategy. The strategy has two pillars: to improve the understanding of current and future risks, and to protect people and businesses by managing the risks and securing Government policy reforms.
