What Does Climate Resilience Mean for Your Business?

“Business as usual is dead” according to Philippe Joubert, Guest Lecturer on the Business Sustainability Management online short course from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). In this video, he discusses the business imperative of addressing climate resilience.

Climate change poses increased risks to businesses, as previously abundant ecosystem services are strained. However, these changes also bring potential opportunities for forward-thinking and innovative companies that can introduce solutions to the market and even revolutionise supply chains and industries.

Transcript

I usually say that business as usual is dead.

Nature is no longer unlimited and free. We have to stop to think that the profit we are producing today are real money. They are fake money. We are not paying for the service rendered by nature. For the people that have not understood that, and continue to think that they can draw a blank cheque on the next generation, are completely wrong. That’s why I’m saying that business as usual is dead.

You have to consider that, first of all, the nature renders a service that you have to remunerate. Number two: this will be triggered by huge acceleration of regulation. And this will trigger a lot of responsibility for the CEOs, the executive committee, but also for the directors, the non-exec and executive director.

This will lead business to review their strategy because a lot of new risks are coming. What typically your CEO was asking: costs, quality, and time of delivery. Now you have to ask your business: “Are you really resilient? Is your supply chain resilient?”

On the other hand, you have also plenty of new opportunities. I take the example of power that I know better. You have a tremendous shift from coal and fossil fuel energy to a new, renewable energy.

What will really put the pressure on business is the fact that the financial work is putting some pressure. Financial investors, bank, insurance, rating agency. Now they are all looking at your own strategy in terms of climate change. They are even asking you to declare this strategy. And something that people are not yet looking enough to is the fact that the talent, the young people, you, you are asking now to have a sense of who you work with. And I could give you plenty of example of company that had to change their strategy or their positioning because they were not able to recruit any more talent.

That’s why I believe that big business will carry a lot of, of the solution. They have a lot of responsibility, but they have a lot of solution because when the big business decides something, it can influence this whole supply chain and the multiplying effect is fantastic.