the-BA : Position Statement Kay Jenkinson

A changing climate for business

Climate change science might be one of the most intellectually-demanding and technically-advanced disciplines on the planet, but, fortunately, you don’t need to be a meteorologist to work out that the predicted hotter, drier summers, the milder, wetter winters and a greater number of intense weather ‘events’ will have a huge impact on UK businesses.

Everyone knows that the weather affects the way we work. When the weather is hot, productivity is affected. Flooding can disrupt transport infrastructure, making it difficult to move goods and people. Intense rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems, damaging buildings and their contents. The incidence of what we now think of as ‘extremes’ is likely to become more common as climate change takes hold during the 21st century.

For business, knowing your vulnerabilities is the starting point for reducing your risk and adapting to climate change. The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) is developing ways to help business sectors think about the climate risks that they face.

The good news is that climate change doesn’t necessarily mean sophisticated adaptation strategies.

If your factory is going to get too hot for comfort in summer, think about changing working patterns or devising better ventilation – but try to avoid energy-intensive air-conditioning which will make the climate change worse in the long run. If your office could be at risk of flooding, make sure your IT server is on the first floor. As part of your routine upgrades, replace gutterings and downpipes with a bigger capacity system to cope with heavier rainfall.

UKCIP has a pilot project, ‘A Changing Climate for Business’, with a small number of trade associations and professional bodies to communicate information about climate change impacts to their members. Once you start to view climate change in terms of business risks, it’s only a small step to begin looking for the opportunities that it might offer.

Warmer summers could mean: more domestic tourism; greater demand for summer clothing and produce; and new heat-loving crops for British farmers. Disruptions to infrastructure might give local suppliers an advantage right across the board. Climate change impacts in other parts of the world could mean new opportunities for British exporters. Demand for climate-resilient products would create new markets.

But Britain’s businesses can’t respond effectively without some help. Decision-makers need to have the best possible information about climate change so that their business-planning can incorporate climate risks just as readily as it would include an analysis of competitors or economic trends.

‘A Changing Climate for Business’ aims to help businesses by providing information on future climate, risk management and climate change costings methodologies to feed into their planning processes.

For more information about ‘A Changing Climate for Business’, contact UKCIP at enquiries@ukcip.org.uk

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