The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), Resilience First, and Resilience Rising today launched the Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways initiative, which aims to empower companies to enhance their resilience and contribute to a global ecosystem of resilient business practices.
Climate change poses an urgent threat. As the backbone of the global economy, businesses play a pivotal role in driving forward resilience and mitigating the dire impacts of climate change.
climate, sustainability, strategy
With this in mind, C2ES, Resilience First, and Resilience Rising have collaborated with nearly 70 thought pioneers in climate, sustainability, strategy, and risk management. Together, they have launched a new report and crafted a set of guiding principles aimed at inspiring decisive private sector action.
The Climate Resilience Pathways: Catalyzing Private Sector Action report not only presents a compelling case for businesses to invest in climate resilience but also unveils a set of principles developed by and for the business community. The Corporate Climate Resilience principles aim to accelerate meaningful business resilience action, building on both the Race to Resilience Campaign momentum to mobilize non-party stakeholders toward 2030 global adaptation targets and the Sharm El-Sheik Adaptation Agenda to address the adaptation gap.
climate resilience
Designed for broad endorsement and adoption by private enterprises globally, these principles aim to foster a common understanding among industry pioneers about corporate leadership and assert a common view that companies pioneering climate resilience are:
- Science-based & Proactive: Companies acknowledge and assess the acute and chronic risks presented by the physical impacts of climate change and implement best practices and investments that enhance resilience across the value chain.
- Transparent & Accountable: Companies regularly measure and report assessed climate risks, adaptation actions, and their impacts consistently and transparently.
- Safeguarding & Enhancing: Companies employ practices that safeguard against maladaptation and increased vulnerability to physical climate hazards and strive to enhance the adaptive capacity of communities and natural ecosystems.
- Inclusive & Equitable: Companies strive to collaboratively engage value chains and local communities to understand and improve decision-making, contribute to systemic needs and priorities, and drive the implementation of equitable climate adaptation and resilience investments.
- Transformative: Companies support and pursue climate adaptation solutions that enable positive systems-level transformations within their organizations, industry sectors, and value chains, and in communities and natural ecosystems.
Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways initiative
“Climate resilience demands unwavering leadership, innovation, and shared ambition. Our Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways initiative underscores the indispensable role of businesses in shaping a sustainable future and marks a critical stride towards a more resilient world."
"We extend an invitation to the private sector and other interested stakeholders to join us in this initiative and to embrace and advocate for the principles shaped through this collaborative effort,” said Nat Keohane, President of C2ES.
systemic transformation
“The innovations and investments that businesses make can be pivotal in fortifying and transforming operations, supply chains, and communities to prepare for and adapt to the physical impacts of climate change."
"This initiative will chart a course for meaningful corporate action – catalyzing private sector investment in adaptation and resilience, and igniting systemic transformation for a robust global economy,” said Seth Schultz, CEO of Resilience Rising.
2030 global adaptation targets
“This initiative stands as an important signal to businesses, investors, and policymakers that there exist companies deeply committed to advancing climate resilience,” said H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 UAE.
“Resilience First, Resilience Rising, and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) have embarked on a groundbreaking effort: The development of guiding principles for robust private sector action, building upon the efforts of the Race to Resilience Campaign and the Sharm El-Sheik Adaptation Agenda, to mobilize towards clear 2030 global adaptation targets and galvanize leadership and investment,” said Al Mubarak.
resiliency planning
“Addressing climate-related hazards is a business imperative,” said Charlene Lake, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at AT&T. “That’s why we focus on building resilience for our business operations and infrastructure to keep our customers connected, while also supporting resiliency planning for the communities our employees and customers call home."
"We applaud the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), Resilience First, and Resilience Rising for their efforts to catalyze more private-sector action on climate resilience, and we’re excited to collaborate with them on this important issue.”
protect people, operations, and supply chains
“Private sector action for resilience will be required to meet both financing conditions and to protect people, operations and supply chains."
"At Resonance, we see the Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways initiative as a vital part to support this transformation,” said Peter Hall, Managing Director, Impact Advisory, Resonance.
goals and review
"The private sector can mobilize quickly, create opportunities for vulnerable populations, and drive the innovations that will be required, this work will play a key role in this urgently needed shift."
Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways organizers C2ES, Resilience First, and Resilience Rising will introduce the initiative’s goals and review the new principles on today’s webinar: Catalyzing Corporate Climate Resilience: A New Leadership Imperative, from 10:30 – 12:00 ET/14:30 – 16:00 GMT.