The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) new report, A Well-Adapted UK, is a rallying cry for the private sector. Businesses should use this moment to not only understand their risks and vulnerabilities from climate change, but to step up on climate adaptation and mitigation.
Rather than extreme climate change being tomorrow’s problem, the report makes clear that adaptation needs to happen now, and it needs to happen quickly. Flooding can damage the physical infrastructure of energy systems; coastal erosion and flooding can cause hazardous waste to be released from landfill sites, harming local ecosystems and communities; and water shortages will affect how much water data centres can withdraw for cooling their systems, especially during the anticipated heat waves.
The report outlines near-term steps businesses can take to protect their operations, supply chains, and infrastructure. Energy companies can improve the siting of their facilities and invest in battery storage; waste management companies can construct coastal or flood defences, measures can be taken to reduce the risk of hazardous waste spills; and data centres can use non-potable water, like rainwater, to cool their systems.
Mapping out and addressing the most likely climate-related risks right now is easier – and far less expensive – than having to respond to unexpected damage from extreme weather, contends the CCC.
This report is a stark reminder of what’s at stake should we delay the transition to a net-zero economy, and businesses should take the opportunity to review and strengthen their climate strategies.
Adaptation efforts are not sunk costs. The CCC argues that acting early is significantly cheaper than responding after the damage is done. It measured the benefit-cost ratio of various adaptation actions – 5:1 for flood and coastal erosion risk management, for example – making the case that today’s investments will pay dividends in the future.
We often focus on the “sticks” – the punishments or negative consequences a business will face should it not take climate action seriously: the impacts of violating regulation, the risk to social licence to operate, pushback from internal and external stakeholders. But the “carrots” deserve just as much, if not more, attention. Businesses have much to gain by taking a leadership position on climate.
The science is clear: we don’t have the luxury of viewing corporate climate action as an optional endeavour or marketing exercise, it’s a business imperative. Companies that aren’t taking climate adaptation, resilience, or mitigation seriously are rolling the dice on the future of their business.
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