Business

The weather already significantly affects economic activity. As the climate changes, all sectors of UK business will be faced with preparing for a range of new threats and opportunities.

Forward planning can help to manage risks, avoid unexpected costs and make the most of any opportunities.

Some impacts will be felt across all business sectors, such as the potential for disruption to distribution networks while others will be specific to certain activities, industries, locations or markets. Either way, the business consequences for an individual company will depend on many factors including location, assets, processes and business priorities. The likely level of risk and most effective response at the level of an individual company is therefore generally poorly understood.

UKCIP’s work with business aims to help them adapt to climate change while building knowledge and experience that can be fed back into publicly available tools and resources. We work through business-facing organisations as well as directly with companies. We are also involved in steering research in business and climate change impacts and adaptation, such as through the Adapting and Resilience to a Changing Climate (ARCC) research programme.

The UKCIP Business Areas Climate Impacts Assessment Tool (BACLIAT) is a good starting point for exploring the implications of climate change for your particular business or sector. It comprises a simple checklist for assessing the potential impacts of climate change under generic business areas.

UKCIP/RCCP Business and climate change adaptation forum is an online community and is for UKCIP, the regional climate change partnerships and others to share experience, knowledge, publications and plans with respect to the impacts of climate change on business.

Adaptation and business podcast