Adapting to Climate Change
While there has certainly been plenty of debate over the climate change mitigation strategies included in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES Act) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, I have heard noticeably less about how companies are working to adapt to changes in both global climate and resource availability.
Most businesses, it seems, aren’t planning for the risks associated with climate change, despite the numerous “reasons for concern” identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
And that’s why Tamara Giltsoff’s post, “Mitigating Climate Change is Hot on the Business Agenda. What About Adapting to It?”
caught my eye.
According to Giltsoff, “Climate adaptation is in part planning for the risk impact of a changing ecosystem services – increased storms, rising sea levels, scarcity of water or other natural resources, increased or decreased temperature extremes, disappearing snow etc. – and (should be) in part looking at the opportunity to evolve, innovate and create value in a climate change context.”
She goes on to list several ways companies can go about identifying appropriate responses and solutions, such as strategic sighting of production centers and power plants and planning for new types of materials and resource use/resuse.
You can find even more climate adaptation strategies at “Adapting to Climate Change: a Business Approach,” from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
