C2ES supports action by major companies to assess climate risks and implement climate risk mitigation and resilience actions outlined in corporate plans and disclosures. Our approach focuses on elevating corporate leadership and the important role the private sector can play in building a climate-resilient future.
The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and chronic climate impacts impose significant risks to ecosystems, communities, and companies around the globe. Extreme weather causes property damage, disrupts business operations, and affects global supply and value chains across the economy.
Companies have always navigated a changing business environment, but now they must contend with a rapidly changing physical environment. Physical change impacts businesses’ facilities and operations, supply and value chains, electricity and water supplies, the communities in which they operate, and their employees and customers. Additionally, regulatory and voluntary reporting regimes are responding to these risks by establishing requirements and early paths for companies to disclose these risks.
To succeed in a climate-impacted future, every business must enhance its resilience to these physical climate impacts. Sectors reliant on natural resources and ecosystems, such as agriculture or tourism, are particularly vulnerable to changing climate conditions, and those providing critical services, such as electricity and healthcare companies, play a significant role in contributing to societal resilience.
In addition to reducing risks presented by climate impacts, companies are expected to adjust for market opportunities created by changing societal needs. One way companies can do this is by providing solutions to consumers and other businesses for planning and adapting in various ways.
Many companies already recognize their climate risks and are taking steps to make their businesses more resilient, from preparing their operations and supply chains to reduce vulnerabilities to seeking out community-based partnerships and supporting local solutions.
But a new C2ES and Systemiq report, Climate Resilience as Strategy, shows that corporate resilience efforts still lag behind growing physical climate risk. The report outlines four interlocking priorities for moving corporate resilience from awareness to scaled action: establishing a cohesive guidance landscape, shared baselines for progress, standardized corporate climate resilience framework, and sector-specific pathways to action. Companies can now benchmark their own progress with C2ES and Systemiq’s self-assessment tool and utilize our database of current guidance, tools, and market analyses on corporate climate resilience.
As companies integrate climate impacts into their corporate strategies and emerging regulations require more transparent disclosure of risks and activities, leading companies will gain a competitive edge over those that do not take action.
It is our position that climate resilience is a key factor to ensuring a company’s success and health, and we invite companies to share what works, help build the necessary tools that don’t yet exist, and make the path to robust climate resilience visible.
C2ES supports action by major companies to assess and mitigate their climate risks and implement climate adaptation and resilience actions. Our resources help companies understand the landscape of risk assessment, emerging practices for corporate plans and disclosures, and resilience strategies. Our approach focuses on elevating corporate leadership and the important role that the private sector can play in building a climate-resilient future.