The environmental impact of climate change is directly affecting society, businesses, and ecosystems. Businesses must look at sustainable choices when making decisions that will become more profitable with time.
While many countries have already adopted sustainable solutions for the following decades, it does not seem enough. Studies suggest that the temperature will rise further by 2040 (Source: Bloomberg Report). More and more studies are being conducted to find the optimal balance between climate change and business growth. A climate change online course can teach businesses how to balance climate change and embrace business growth.
What is the impact of climate change on business?
Business climate change is real and is changing how we live. It is one of the most pressing challenges of today’s times. Workplaces will likely face the wrath due to shifts in consumer trends, input costs, and changing weather patterns. In 2019, the International Labor Organization reported that 80 million jobs would be at risk with temperature predictions materializing (Source: ESGClarity). It further predicted the impact caused on productivity by challenging working environments.
Businesses affected due to climate change experience risks in three sectors: physical, transitional, and liability. Physical risks are the immediate threats posed by droughts, flooding, wildfires, and hurricanes are incidents of the climate crisis. In addition, major weather events have increased with a warming climate.
The global population is in danger, with a 20-24 percent risk of flooding and 700 million people at risk of being displaced due to drought (source: Zurich.com). Major weather events have increased with direct correlation to the soaring climate. Furthermore, business activities are primarily affected by frequent extreme weather events and gradual climatic processes. The changes will increase uncertainty, pose risks for people and lead to significant life changes.
How to balance climate change and business growth?
Climate change is not just an environmental concern, instead is inextricably linked with everything around us. Climate change and business growth are related, and the effect of climate change on businesses is disturbing. Therefore, it is becoming crucial to balance climate change and business growth.
There is no one size fits all approach. Each approach depends on the business type you are referring to. Business leaders must address all concerns about carbon emissions while reducing their vulnerability to the environment. The approach should include initiatives to mitigate climate risks in every company’s value chain. Every business needs to get the basics right, ensuring operational efficiency.
Implementing the correct practices to manage climate-related costs is essential to stay competitive. A climate change online course can help business organizations visualize their approaches from a different perspective to mitigate climate change. Keep reading to explore steps to balance the business climate and achieve growth.
Evaluate the vulnerability
Along with understanding the emission costs, every firm must evaluate its vulnerability to climate-related effects. The firm’s leaders must assess the risks and then decide to reduce them through redesigning operations.
Review the waste habits
How businesses manage waste has a significant impact on climate change. In 2018, Americans produced 292.4 million tons of solid waste, with only 69.0 million tons sent to landfills (source: EPA). Several factors contribute to it, including food, a low national recycling rate, and landfills being the third-largest source of methane emissions.
To curb the problems, recycling and a responsible waste policy can help. According to the EPA, the national recycling rate of Municipal solid waste (MSW) was nearly 32.1 percent in 2018 (source: EPA). This can reduce greenhouse gases, leading to zero emissions. Moreover, keeping food waste separate and away from landfills significantly helps. Organic material, when compacted in landfill, emits methane. Hence, finding an avenue to compose the materials and reduce emissions is also necessary. An efficient recycling plan also minimizes greenhouse gas emissions, uses raw materials, and saves energy.
Internal carbon pricing
Internal carbon pricing is one of the most prominent business strategies gaining traction among leading business organizations. This assigns a price to carbon emissions. According to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions in 2016, more than 1,200 companies are pursuing internal carbon pricing (source: C2es.org). Companies must assign a monetary value to the emissions associated with any business activity. The price is factored into several investment decisions and offers an incentive to move from an emission-intensive program to a climate-resilient alternative.
Improved energy efficiency
This has emerged as a critical strategy for balancing climate change and business growth. Companies and organizations often pledge to double their energy productivity and boast an ability to save significantly. Leading firms giving greater attention to energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels report significant savings and net zero emissions. The right strategies can encompass all issues arising from supply chains, internal operations, cross-cutting issues, and products and services. Companies implementing procedures to reduce carbon footprints come to perceive energy use in a whole new light.
Choose sustainable suppliers
With companies’ strategizing to reduce carbon emissions, it is crucial to focus on several external factors. Organizations must make smarter purchasing decisions and work with suitable suppliers to ensure sustainability. Today’s suppliers offer more sustainable services and valuable post-consumer base materials.
By making a wise choice, businesses can contribute to safeguarding the environment while using products that cost less energy, last longer, and produce less waste. In addition, 55% of global online consumers (source: Forbes) will help you pay more for services willing to pave a social impact on the environment. Enrolling in a climate change online course can help business organizations learn strategies to choose sustainable suppliers.
Make employees and customers aware
If you wish to balance climate change and business growth, educating the workforce and increasing their awareness is essential. The education entails discussing the hazards of their actions. Businesses can initiate the program by creating a green team; the group of employees will work their way to identify opportunities to initiate environmental care while spreading the message. A business and climate change course can further enlighten employees on the hazards of climate change.
Restrict business travel
Business travel is one of the biggest emission generators. As per studies, overall transportation accounts for 29% of the greenhouse gases emitted (source: Gov.UK), and the numbers are only increasing. Organizations understanding negative environmental impact have already proceeded with solutions. Post-pandemic video conferencing technology has gained high prominence across business fields.
Hence, organizations can make another move to restrict business travel and further increase carbon efficiency. Alternatively, businesses can also encourage or incentivize employees to travel through public transportation and reduce indirect CO2 emissions, bringing a considerable impact on the climate.
Opt for greener infrastructure and equipment
It is now possible to opt for greener solutions. In this way, companies can initiate setting up a fleet of hybrid vehicles to comply with the latest environmental standards. Additionally, choose the most sustainable and efficient option when buying new printers, laptops, air conditioners, etc. However, if the old ones can be fixed and repaired, stay sustainable in your choice. A zero emissions course can promote strategies for greener infrastructure.
Promote environmentally friendly ways of working
Some forms of working are a lot more ecological than others. Introducing sustainable forms of work helps minimize paperwork, business travel, etc. Paperwork has a strong environmental impact, and with everything controlled on the internet, reducing paperwork is a profitable solution. A climate change online course can help you identify and promote environmentally friendly working methods while laying down specific work measures.
Create value
Creating value refers to creating business strategies, services, and products designed to exploit beneficial opportunities presented by climate change. The adaptation and mitigation activities have a resulting commercial benefit. Decarbonizing the global economy is framed as a painful and costly endeavor, jeopardizing jobs, retarding growth, and stagnating innovation. Several term costs might be acute for a few sectors dependent on carbon emission processes. However, new opportunities to capture and create value will materialize and shift to greener technology, empowering business models globally.
Shift the business paradigm
For most of the last century, companies have prioritized maximizing financial performance. Unfortunately, the period coincided with climate change, leading to the depletion of non-excludable resources. Therefore, it is essential to introduce a shift in the business paradigm and re-examine company policies to be more sustainable.
Climate change and business growth are interconnected, and with the growing atrocities in climate, we need to augment how businesses operate. This means shifting the approach to reduce the climate impact and escalating business growth. Companies require distinctive objectives, different patterns of evaluation, and much more. Enroll in a Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership course to achieve an optimal balance between climate change and business growth. Businesses must change their objectives and embrace climate mitigation, value creation, and adaptation while putting growth and profitability on an equal footing.
