Ira Feldman attended THE SHIFT conference in Berlin on November 6, 2024. The event was styled by the organizers as the first corporate climate adaptation conference. The keynote speakers included Jem Bendell of “Deep Adaptation” fame and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Climate Institute, an IPCC lead author.
One attendee identified four key takeaways from the conference:
- Impacts from climate change are real, material and accelerating. All global regions are being impacted. Adaptation is now an unignorable part of the agenda.
- Corporates play a significant part in adaptation. There is a need for businesses to implement measures that build strategic and financial resilience in a changing and uncertain world.
- Weaving climate change adaptation into other corporate priorities, such as risk management and transition planning, will ensure alignment to corporate strategy and ultimately enhance resilience.
- Building a strong business case – both in financial terms and with consideration of wider benefits to the company as well as society and the environment – is key to getting buy-in from stakeholders for the adaptation agenda.
Another attendee noted that he hoped THE SHIFT conference marks the beginning of a trend where business will understand climate adaptation as a complementary and sometimes symbiotic approach to climate mitigation.
Kudos to the co-organizers of THE SHIFT Daniel Schmitz-Remberg and Thomas Krick for their commitment and passion in creating a great event!