Responding effectively to climate change will inevitably lead to a reprioritisation of economic activities, says new report
The Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSD Australia) says the WBCSD report Business Climate Resilience - Thriving through the transformation – launched this week to coincide with the UN Climate Action Statement – has clear application to Australian business.
“The delivery of the Paris Agreement objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals depends on the ability of businesses to connect climate, nature and people to assure a resilient future for business and society,” said BCSD Australia CEO, Andrew Petersen.
“Australia’s response to climate change will therefore inevitably lead to a reprioritisation of economic activities. In response Australian companies will need to adopt resilience strategies that include ambitious mitigation measures to adapt to climate change impacts, as well as steps to strategically transform so that they can benefit from new opportunities and address unprecedented risks.
“This report’s focus is therefore on helping business to understand, assess and act, based on physical and transition climate-related risks. Measures such as enterprise risk management and transformation to resilient business models are key elements in building business climate resilience,” said Mr Petersen.
The WBCSD Building Climate Resilience report highlights three steps that Australian businesses can take to enhance climate resilience:
1. Develop and maintain ambitious mitigation efforts to become less vulnerable to disruptive risks, such as policy and legal measures, resource scarcity or adverse market developments.
2. Adapt to ensure business continuity in the face of climate-related physical risks. Businesses should assess and evaluate climate-related physical risks throughout their operations, supply chains and across the communities where they operate.
3. Assess the connections, dependencies and value to society and nature
The report also addresses two of the key pillars of BCSD Australia’s recently announced Climate Action Statement, namely:
Enablers - Build climate resilient companies;
Resilience - Build capacity to manage the impacts of climate change
ENDS.
About BCSD Australia
BSCD Australia is an Australian coalition of private and public organisations advocating for progress on sustainable development. Its mission is to be a catalyst for innovation and sustainable growth in a world where resources are increasingly limited. The Council provides a platform for companies to share experiences and best practices on sustainable development issues and advocate for their implementation, working with governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations.
BCSD Australia’s members include leading Australian businesses, from all sectors, who share a commitment to economic, environmental and social development, public sector enterprises institutions, business and industry non-government organisations and community organisations, which in turn represent more than 100,000 Australian employees. A comprehensive list is available: http://www.bcsda.org.au/membership
BCSD Australia is the Network Partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Australian Partner of the We Mean Business Coalition, the Regional Platform Partner of the Natural Capital Coalition, and Australian Partner for CDP, the institutional formally known as the Carbon Disclosure Project.
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