Climate change is amplifying and creating new risks for companies. As storms, droughts and heat waves become more frequent and severe, natural systems that provide the essential inputs to sustain production and ensure business continuity face ever-increasing threats. Companies must now ensure they are not only sustainable, but also “resilient” —that is able to withstand, recover from, and adapt to changes in weather and climate.
WWF’s practical guide illustrates steps businesses can take to help maintain profitability and social license to operate in a climate-insecure future. Rising to Resilience: A practical guide for business and nature breaks down the complex idea of planning for instability and managing change—beyond the capabilities of traditional risk management—and can help as companies work to ensure that investments of both time and resources are worthwhile in the long term.
The steps detailed in the guide include:
- Assessing Risk: assembling available knowledge and resources, planning for change, and developing a long-term capacity for informed, flexible management
- Developing a strategy to manage for change, not just persistence
- Implementing local solutions that are nature-friendly, responsive, and flexible
- Monitoring, evaluating, and adaptively managing
A companion guide, Rising to Resilience: How water stewardship can help business build climate resilience, provides some tools that can help businesses prepare for and respond to climate change’s effects on water resources—the primary medium through which climate change impacts are felt. This guide, produced jointly with The Coca-Cola Company, includes a case study detailing the company’s water resilience pilot in Central America.
