Inform

Part I: The Case from Business and Economics

Why should business consider climate change action?

Let's begin with a simple statement: we are not here to preach. If you want to reduce emissions because you believe climate change is a significant threat to society, including its continuing prosperty, then welcome to this site. If you see an opportunity to reduce your energy bills, you are welcome. If you have a product or service that will decrease climate change risks, and want to grow your business through this opportunity, you are welcome as well. If your business is at risk from some of the impacts of climate change such as flooding or reduced crop yield, you may have cause to reduce your vulnerability. There are many reasons for heading down the paths on this site, and each is equally valid.

Our studies at 4CMR show a path forward to climate change risk reduction that needn't be at the expense of the economy. Creating that path forward, however, requires carefully coordinating environmental, energy and economic policies so they enable businesses to make low carbon, resilient investments. It requires taking a macroeconomic perspective on both the national and global economy, so decision makers understand the multiplier effect of investment in low carbon technologies and services. It requires large companies helping smaller ones in their supply chain, and governments providing incentives for decarbonising the economy, including de-risking early stage investments in the technologies and practices required. It requires marshalling the immense resources and influence of multinational firms, who collectively form a non-governmental community that circles the globe and drives supply chains in all of the major economies.

These aren't the ideas of environmentalists. They are the ideas of business leaders who offer hard-nosed assessments and solutions. You can find them on the pages of the Confederation of British Industry, Business in the Community, the Prince of Wale's Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and elsewhere. Don't take our word for it. Travel to their sites for a sampling of the business cases for reducing the risks of climate change. These same sites have a variety of case studies of how specific businesses, including SMEs, have profitted from plans that link climate response, business opportunity and profitability.

Their assessments, and ours, make it clear that moving the business world forward will require unprecedented cooperation between government, business and consumers. Governments must provide consistent incentives that level the playing field of investment and place the price of environmental damage fairly into the costs of using resources. Businesses must make use of these incentives in moving towards lower carbon operations that are also resilient to the impacts of climate change. And consumers must choose these reward these innovators by purchasing their low carbon goods and services.

A sampling of reasons for considering climate change strategies by your firm include:

You may have assets that must be made resilient to a changing climate; e.g to a rising intensity and frequency of storms and flooding
You may be part of the supply chain for a larger firm that is insisting on lower carbon alternatives to the goods and services you already provide
You may provide goods and services to government organisations that require these to be low carbon as part of their procurement policy and consultancy frameworks
You may be finding your energy bills rising to levels where they are becoming a significant fraction of our total budget, and are seeking to reduce these
Your innovations may be central to removing one of the current barriers to deployment of low carbon technologies and practices, providing a new market opportunity
Your customers may be insisting on some indication that your firm's Corporate Social Responsibility strategy includes consideration of - and action on - climate change
You may be seeking to create a brand that falls into the "green", "clean", "low carbon", "sustainable" space, capturing one of the emerging awards that publically recognise such accomplishment

As you can see, there are many reasons to move down the low carbon, climate resilient pathway. The BITC site contains case studies of these many other motivations in dozens of firms throughout the UK. That is why we repeat the statement at the top: we are not here to preach, and there are many reasons why your firm might want to engage in the strategies of energy and carbon reduction, or of reducing vulnerability of assets and operations to climate change risks, you will find on this site.

There are admittedly barriers that must be removed for greater uptake of these practices. National governments have allowed incentive programmes to waiver, creating uncertainty in building the business case for change. The price of carbon has been too low, and too unstable, to allow for sound investment decisions. Policies often ignore the complex ownership chains of properties, especially amoungst SMEs that rarely own the space they occupy and so may not see the economic benefits of improved energy efficiency in a building. A patchwork of policies and regulations in different nations and regions causes unlevel playing fields and hence lack of fairness in competition. Programmes that distort the market, such as feed-in tariffs, have not had the longevity needed to stimulate investment. Consumers at times find the new products and services unfamiliar, less convenient and more costly (at least as initial capital expenditure), and may vote with their purses. Fortunately, the business world has organisations such as CBI and BITC "on the case" to inform governments and consumers, identifying where the barriers lie and how they might be reduced through better formulated policies. One of your most effective strategies might be to join one of these organisations and become engaged with like-minded SMEs and larger firms facing the same challenges.

Part II: View the Scientific Case for Action

Part III: View the Policy Summary