Wednesday, June 22, 2011

New climate change advice to help businesses boost growth

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/03/29/advice-to-businesses/ 
Climate change will bring opportunities for economic growth if British businesses think now about how climate change will affect them, Environment Minister Lord Henley said on March 29, 2011. The message came at the launch of a new interactive online tool designed by Defra and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to prepare businesses for both climate risks and opportunities.

The Climate Resilience Toolkit is a quick and simple online tool available on the Business Link website for businesses wanting to increase their resilience to the changing climate, or explore possibilities for growth by taking advantage of the opportunities climate change will bring.

The toolkit provides a tailored report for each business to help it focus on what it should be doing to prepare, such as checking the robustness of its supply chain, the threat of flooding to premises and possible changes in customer demand for products.
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While many organisations have looked at reducing their carbon emissions, few have seriously considered how to address the impacts of an already changing climate. A survey commissioned by Defra last year found that two thirds of the UK’s largest businesses (68%) have not yet acted on the risks and opportunities that climate change poses. Businesses must not only consider how to reduce their environmental impact, but also how to adapt and build resilience to the expected impacts of climate change as part of their wider business model.

Andrew Harding, Executive Director, CIMA Markets, explains: “Sustainability makes good business sense and it should be embedded at the very heart of any company strategy. As companies incorporate these environmental considerations into their strategies for long-term business success, management accountants have an important role to play in ensuring that investments in sustainability capabilities produce greater returns than simply meeting compliance requirements.”

The Climate Resilience Toolkit can be found at www.businesslink.gov.uk/climaterisk

The Adapting to Climate Change Programme, based in Defra, works with Government Departments and their agencies, local authorities, businesses, regulators, infrastructure providers/owners/operators/investors and civil society to improve the country’s resilience to the impacts of the unavoidable climate change we will experience over the next 30-40 years.... More information is available from www.defra.gov.uk/adaptation.

United Kingdom (UK) Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) www.defra.gov.uk
Press Release dated 29 March 2011

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