Business Resilience in a Changing Climate: Making the Best Use of Existing Science and Research
November 1, 2011 - Ottawa
Leading companies in Canada and abroad have begun to take steps to understand, assess, and manage the physical impacts of climate change. Increasingly, companies with robust management systems are factoring in current and future impacts of climate change into their decision-making processes. Enterprise risk management, business continuity, environmental management, and quality management systems, are a few examples of the management systems and processes that can help translate knowledge of climate change risks and opportunities into actions that preserve and create value.
Gaps in access to reliable, timely, and meaningful climate change information for business risk management and planning often stand out as a barrier to taking action to prepare for a warming world. At the same time, we know that abundant data, information, and research is available to aid decisions, with much more being generated through government programs focused on climate change adaptation among other initiatives. Climate change information resources include databases of weather / extreme events, climate projections and their interpretation, climate change impacts research, and analytical guidance to assess business impacts, develop, and select response options.
Strategic corporate decisions are being made every day in Canada that have long-term implications and that are subject to climate change risks. Uncertainty in the precise timing and nature of climate change impacts is hardly a valid reason to ignore these risks. Recognizing these realities, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) and the Delphi Group have partnered to bring together suppliers, translators, and users of climate change information in a conversation aimed at increasing the uptake of existing science and research in business risk management and planning.
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