Business leadership on climate change adaptation: encouraging engagement and action

This report presents the views of a range of businesses, from major multinationals to local enterprises, on adaptation to climate change. It asserts that the role of business is not just preparing its own assets and operations for anticipated climate change, but also providing know how, solutions and resources to the adaptation challenge, ranging from climate risk assessment, to designing disaster risk management and financing vehicles, and designing and deploying new technologies. It concludes that business has an important role to play in adaptation, and that better engagement of business is needed in the policy-shaping process to harness this.

The report calls for better representation of the private sector in the climate change negotiation process and public–private collaboration in the development of adaptation responses. It covers five key areas: (i) national planning and implementation of adaptation; (ii) assessment of risks, impacts and vulnerability and knowledge sharing; (iii) technology development and transfer; (iv) disaster risk management and insurance; and (v) financing adaptation activities, including green funds. Launched to mark World Business Day at the UN Climate Summit in Cancun, the study was conducted by PwC in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and supported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the UK Department for International Development.