Communicating About Climate Change with Corporate Leaders and Stakeholders

Abstract

Within the corporate sector, climate change represents an unfolding market shift; one that is driven by policy, but also by pressures from a variety of market constituents such as consumers, suppliers, buyers, insurance companies, banks and others. The shift is manifest in changes in market demand, cost of capital, operational efficiency, access to raw materials within supply chains (most notably in energy use) and other issues of business concern. In fact, when viewed in this way, business leaders and stakeholders can be agnostic about the science of climate change and still see it as a business issue. In the face of a market shift, successful companies must innovate. And as in any market shift, the implications of addressing climate change are not uniform, and the burden will not fall evenly. There are both risks and opportunities; there will be both winners and losers. Certain companies, industries, and sectors will be impacted more than others. This chapter will discuss the ways in which climate change poses market risk and the strategic responses that companies might adopt to respond to and mitigate that risk. This focus is critically important as the solutions to climate change must come from business. The market is the most powerful institution on earth, and business is the most powerful entity within it. Business makes the goods and services we rely upon: the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the forms of mobility we use and the buildings we live and work in. If business does not lead the way towards solutions for a carbon neutral world, there will be no solutions.