Building off key lessons learned after going through the COVID-19 crisis, Kearney has released a report that looks at the economic costs of climate change and how companies can use that new knowledge to minimize its impact.
The report, released by Kearney's Global Business Policy Council, is called The economic costs of climate change: lessons learned from COVID-19. It identifies three central lessons from which knowledge to address the problem can be gleaned, including individual capacity to change behaviors when faced with external shocks, the need for international cooperation to solve global challenges, and the critical role technology plays in advancing solutions.
Despite the politicization rampant around climate change, industries from agriculture to logistics to tourism are already being disrupted by higher temperatures and extreme weather. According to Kearney, 77 percent of investors are saying climate considerations are factoring into their decision-making processes.
One area the report looked at was green technology, ranging from wind and solar power to more cutting edge sectors like geoengineering.
"Developments in several green technologies are truly exciting," says report co-author Paul A. Laudicina, chairman emeritus of Kearney and founder of its Global Business Policy Council.
"We've seen incredible growth in a number of key areas such as wind and solar power even throughout the pandemic, and we only expect growth to continue after economies begin reopening at a larger scale."
The report examines four potential climate change futures, which include global GDP swings as high as $29 trillion.
"Our scenarios highlight how crucial two drivers—international cooperation and climate technology innovation—will be in determining the outlook for carbon emissions," says Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the report.
"The pandemic has only emphasized the extent to which companies need to prepare for external shocks. But with appropriate planning, businesses can build effective resilience strategies to mitigate the growing risks of climate change."
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