29 March 2011 | Tierney Smith
Climate Change, ICT, Europe

 

All businesses will be affected by climate change, and must find ways to limit the risks, according to Defra and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) at the launch of their new online toolkit for business.  

The new free Climate Resilience Toolkit will offer tailored reports for businesses, helping them to focus on what should and could be done to prepare for climate change, including checking the robustness of its supply chain, the flooding threats, changes in customer demand, and impact of over reliance on water and energy.

Lord Henley, under-secretary of state at Defra wants business to face up to the changes to come, and that small business will now have the opportunities that have currently only been taken up by larger companies. He stressed: “Smart businesses that take action now to limit the risks and identify the opportunities climate change could bring will steal a march on their rivals.”

Going through questions about energy and water intensity, import activities, IT use, and employee and customer behaviour, the online guide offers advice on a number of areas, and outlines priorities for each business based on the answers given.

Andrew Harding, Executive Director of CIMA Markets said: “It is about benefits to the business, its about how you make sure you don’t loose the money you lost last December, that has to be the best way. I can’t think of a business that wasn’t effected by last winters’ weather and there are some pretty simple things they could have done to mitigate that.”

He said that while 79 per cent of larger businesses currently have a formal sustainability policy, and little as 3 per cent of smaller businesses have an equivalent. 23 per cent of SMEs do plan to develop a strategy in the coming years, but Harding feels this is still not enough.

“They need to know what are the risks that they face, how those risks will impact on their business and then they just need simple ideas about how to mitigate those risks.

“Yes it is a start, it’s not about huge heavy investment, but if every business adopted this it would make a huge huge difference.”

The new toolkit offers simple, and cost effective ways businesses can adapt to the risk of climate change. It does not cover areas where large investments will be needed, which is inevitable in some cases, but CIMA and Defra hope that it will raise awareness of the challenge facing businesses.

Andrew Slight, head of external affairs at PepsiCo UK and Ireland, said the impacts of climate change are already being felt. He emphasised the idea of shared responsibility between businesses.

He said: “A lot of SMEs will feed into large businesses, and they will have a role of helping smaller businesses. For example, our farmers do not have the tools to adapt to climate change, so we as a big business can go and develop these tools.”

Lord Henley, does hope, however, that businesses will not only see the negative impacts, but the opportunities for improved business practice and financial savings.  

 

Image 1: Rl Hyde | flickr

Image 2: Chris P | flickr

blog comments powered by Disqus