Climate change is advancing at a concerning rate. NASA’s Vital Science of the Planet shows that average temperatures have risen by 2.11 F, arctic sea ice has shrunk by 12%, and our oceans are 360 (± 2) zettajoules hotter than they were in 1950.
These challenges represent a serious threat to humanity and will put pressure on your business in years to come. As the earth warms, you can expect your firm to be impacted directly by more intense climate catastrophes and will experience significant delays and disruption due to supply chain issues.
Insulating your business against climate change is, therefore, a top priority. Climate leadership at work ensures that your company takes sustainability seriously and can increase engagement and loyalty amongst your team. This can be a real boon if you want to appeal to a younger workforce who cares about the impact of global warming on the world at large.
Climate Resilience and Continuity
Future-proofing your firm as a leader is crucial if you want your business to respond appropriately to the threats you face. Increasingly, that means you must treat climate change as an emerging threat to the continuity of your business. Climate-induced events like floods, wildfires, cyclones, and earthquakes have already wreaked havoc on businesses around the world and threaten to increase in both regularity and severity.
Preparing for plausible scenarios can be tricky if you haven’t already lived through a natural disaster or climate event. Today, you can lean on plausible scenario builders to imagine potential threats and build plans based on data points like:
- Climate research
- Your specific weaknesses
- Past scenarios
By utilizing scenario builders, you put yourself in a better position as a leader. You’ll be able to map out potential risks and will be able to communicate to stakeholders using language they understand. This can make a world of difference to the success of your climate resilience plan, as you’ll need to get everyone on board if you want to make the required changes to your operations.
Resilient Infrastructure
As the world warms, you’ll need to reconsider your approach to infrastructure like heating, lighting, water, and security. Taking a progressive, climate-conscious approach will significantly improve your ability to react to future threats and may help mitigate the potential negative impacts of climate change. Today, you can take advantage of climate-resilient innovations like:
- Water Harvesting Systems: Collecting water from sources like evaporation can reduce water stress in your area and help you support the water needs of your local community.
- Green Roofs: Roofs with grass, shrubs, and flowers absorb heat and minimize energy requirements for cooling. They even have a root-resistant coating, meaning the plants won’t undermine the structural integrity of the building.
- Passive Solar: Passive solar lets warm light in when your building is cool, uses a thermal mass to redistribute it, and repels hot rays when you need to stay cool. This reduces dependency on forced air and can lower your electricity needs.
- Evaporative Cooling: Modern evaporative cooling systems work by reducing temperatures using wet pads which, when air passes over them, release cooler air into the building.
These methods can reduce your costs and help you raise funds for climate-conscious strategies. This is important, as materials for green buildings tend to be more expensive than current methods. By embracing green infrastructure innovations, you can balance the books while reducing emissions and increasing resilience.
Sustainable Business Principles
True sustainability is about going beyond greenwashing and making meaningful changes to your firm. Leading a more sustainable business can be rewarding, too, as you’re using your influence to combat climate change and reduce emissions. Minimizing ecological harm and carbon emissions needn’t be complicated, either. Instead, focus on basics like:
- Waste Reduction: Audit your waste and keep track of where your unused materials end up. You can also embrace circular production methods to further reduce costs and keep offcuts and mistakes out of landfills.
- Switch to Sustainable Materials: As the name suggests, sustainable materials are inherently resilient. They can be scaled up without causing further harm to the planet and are less likely to be impacted by factors like rising oil or gas prices.
- Energy Efficiency: Switching to renewable energy supplies immediately reduces your carbon footprint and insulates you against external factors like global conflict which may otherwise raise energy costs. Switching to sustainable methods like solar can give you greater control over your energy production and help you avoid outages in the years to come.
Taking these measures will future-proof your firm and help you run a more sustainable ship. This is key, as governments around the world are ramping up efforts to curb carbon emissions and reduce environmental degradation. Getting ahead of the curve will save you money in the long run and may build your appeal amongst climate-conscious consumers.
Conclusion
Taking your responsibilities to the environment seriously can improve the effectiveness of your leadership initiatives and reduce the harm caused by your business. Even simple changes, like switching to more recycled packaging, can drastically reduce your reliance on non-renewable materials. Making these changes will improve your resiliency and future-proof you against climate change by insulating your firm against uncontrollable factors like spiralling oil prices.