Together with the Environment and Clean Energy team at the MIF I was in Bogota, Colombia last week to learn about climate change adaptation for small businesses. The workshop shared the latest climate change science, theory, and philosophical issues. But what really brought the topic down to earth were several interviews with local small businesses in multiple different sectors already being affected by climate change.Read the rest of entry »
An increasing number of the world’s largest companies are recognizing their vulnerability to climate change and are acting to improve the climate resilience of their firms and value chains. In addition, companies are beginning to see business opportunities related to the need for greater climate resilience.
A recent publication of the Partnership for Resilience and Environmental Preparedness (PREP), “Value Chain Climate Resilience: A Guide to Managing Climate Impacts in Companies and Communities,” outlines a “value chain approach” to building climate resilience in firms and local communities. The PREP group is comprised of large global companies with extended value chains or with a compelling business interest in value chains, such as the reinsurance industry. Many of the firms in their value chains are small companies. The report was prepared by Acclimatise, Oxfam America, and BSR, on behalf of PREP members.
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By Jennifer Baldwin
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a biodiversity “superpower” according to a recent report from the United Nations. From tropical rainforests to coral reefs, to high-altitude plains to vast savannas, this region contains a variety of unique ecosystems that support a stunning diversity of flora and fauna. Many small producers and businesses in the region are dependent upon this endowment of natural capital for their livelihoods. But growing natural resource consumption and infrastructure expansion threatens these ecosystems and their inhabitants.
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The great majority of climate scientists have avoided linking specific extreme weather events to global climate change. A typical disclaimer goes something like this: “We must emphasize that one cannot attribute the cause of any specific weather event, such as a heat wave, drought or other occurrence to global climate change.”
This convention may be changing.
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As Carmen Lacambra noted in her previous post, there are a growing number of enterprises in various sectors implementing adaptation strategies in Latin America. Indeed, the private sector everywhere is undertaking increasing action in response to the demands of climate change.
But for the great majority of companies, these actions are not described as “climate adaptation” or “climate resilience,” but simply as a part of the “doing business.” This is changing.
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El cambio climático es una realidad que influye en la actividad económica de las empresas, sin importar a cual sector de la economía pertenezca. En Perú por ejemplo las inundaciones del 2010 afectaron fuertemente a los habitantes de Cusco y al turismo, varios turistas tuvieron que ser evacuados de la zona de Machu Picchu y durante varios meses la zona Arqueológica permaneció cerrada afectando severamente la economía de Cuzco.
La realidad es que el cambio climático ya no es una teoría sobre el calentamiento global y algo que va a pasar.
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Welcome to AdaptAmericas, a forum for the exchange of ideas, models and knowledge on climate adaptation for smaller enterprises and their local communities. By climate adaptation, we mean practical actions taken to protect private and public assets and local communities from the destructive impacts of climate change. Climate change is a serious threat to enterprises, but for those with the right business models and know-how, climate adaptation is a market opportunity.
This blog will share practical models and tools for improving climate resilience and identifying opportunities presented by climate adaptation, especially for micro, small and medium sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean and other developing regions.
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