The events convened by Bruce Piasecki and his AHC Group each year in Arizona and in Saratoga Springs bring together senior corporate leaders in environment and sustainability to share insights on best practices and learn about emerging trends. Adaptation Leader was invited to join this high-level gathering on June 16 to present its latest thinking on climate adaptation and resilience, especially as viewed in the ESG context for the financial sectors and the investment community. The Adaptation Leader ESG team — Peter Soyka, Nina Gardner and Ira Feldman — provided the attendees in Saratoga and online with a preview of their forthcoming white paper, “Viewing ESG through an Adaptation Lens.” Earlier in the day, Peter Soyka also delivered a sophisticated overview of the current state of play in the ESG space, “ESG: A Dynamic Landscape,” a presentation that was well-received by the attendees and organizers.
In the “Viewing ESG through an Adaptation Lens” presentation, Ira Feldman covered the basics of adaptation and resilience for the benefit of those who had previously only focused on the mitigation component of climate action. Ira then presented a recap of Adaptation Leader’s recent work on ESG issues, including two prior published commentaries recommending the need for greater attention to adaptation and resilience by the investor community and suggesting that the influential TCFD framework, while strong on mitigation, had inadequately addressed adaptation.
The balance of the presentation, led by Peter Soyka and Nina Gardner, highlighted key points from the soon-to-be released Adaptation Leader white paper. Climate change is seen as a material risk to businesses and some companies are already planning for anticipated climate impacts. It was noted, however, that most companies currently have large gaps in climate adaptation strategies and implementation. In playing catch up on adaptation, large corporations have the ability to innovate and quickly mobilize capital and resources. The clear message sent was that “the next few years will be pivotal in determining which prosper and which fail as climate-related hazards further disrupt complex market environments.” Within the capital markets, while ESG is “going mainstream,” the understanding of climate adaptation and resilience remains limited because the “financial risks are not well understood, particularly among retail investors.”
Peter and Nina effectively articulated the implications of the current state of play, i.e., that “unprepared companies expose others to severe risk,” and that “our changing climate requires substantial and decisive action.” It was suggested that there are “leadership opportunities for corporate executives and board members,” and that companies would be well-served to not wait for regulation. In the forthcoming white paper, Adaptation Leader identifies a set of key actions required and how both the public and private sectors must lead. In its concluding “Call to Action,” Adaptation Leader emphasized the urgent need for concerted action on climate adaptation through both awareness raising and the formation of partnerships to address the challenge of climate adaptation.
For further information, please contact: Ira Feldman <ira@adaptationleader.org>