CBI wants climate risk data

The CBI has published a report Whatever the weather: managing the risks from a changing climate, telling the government to help businesses prepare for the risks of climate change by publishing environmental data.

The CBI said climate change projections should be published in a more accessible format. It also called for the creation of a new public information bank showing the risk to critical infrastructure. Together these would help firms to plan for rising temperatures and the risks of extreme weather.

£22bn of flood damage

Dr Neil Bentley, CBI director of business environment, said: “Many businesses aren’t ready for the changes that could be ahead. The flooding in 2007 had insurance claims totalling over £3b and, as our climate changes, it is estimated that annual flood damages alone could cost as much as £22bn by 2020.

“The impact of climate change needs to be made part of on-going risk management and we must also ensure that what we build today is resilient enough to withstand changes to the climate over the next century.

“The Government must help ensure that businesses have the information needed to take action. Most of this data is already in the public domain, but needs to be made available in an easy-to-use format.”

The report’s divides recommendations into two categories: for government and business:

For the Government:

• The UK Climate Projections (UKCP) should be packaged as a range of more tailored offerings with clearer ‘best available prediction’ models for non-climate-specialists.
• A publicly-accessible information bank detailing the climate risk to critical public infrastructure should be developed, to support businesses in their own climate adaptation planning.
• The Government’s forthcoming national Climate Change Risk Assessment must shape a coherent approach to climate adaptation across regulated sectors, the planning process, and in public infrastructure procurement.
• A consistent approach should be taken across regulatory authorities to support firms to adapt public infrastructure to long-term climate risk.

For businesses:

• Companies should include an evaluation of climate risk in their overall assessment of business risks.
• Climate adaptation strategies should focus on actions that fit within broader sustainability strategies and which deliver savings (in resource use and running costs) in their own right.
• Climate risk evaluation should cover six key areas – supply chains, assets, operations, markets, regulatory compliance and business reputation.
• Climate exposure should be clearly identified and included in corporate reporting.
• Non-commercially sensitive climate adaptation information should be shared by companies to avoid an inconsistent approach between different sectors.