Climate Risks: Ready or Not

A new year a new start? Unseasonal weather with flooding from the worst monsoon in three decades in Malaysia to abnormally mild weather in Europe, begs the question are we ready for increasingly frequent climate events? With the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting or “COP 21” looming at the end of this year, we summarised our key takeaways from the last four climate conferences we attended from Hong Kong to Peru. We also looked at funding gaps in flood control investments in China and how China expects to finance rainy days ahead. Whilst governments are working towards climate resilience, what about corporates? Read why more action (globally & in China) is needed to match the risk whilst Deloitte Consulting’s Will Sarni expands on how businesses can secure the water to fuel growth as simply paying more for it will not work in the future. Moreover, Columbia Water Center’s Paulina Concha explains the Center’s climate forecasting pilot with PepsiCo to mitigate supply chain risks in the company’s Frito Lay business. With interlinked risks around the water-energy nexus, we need to be sure solutions are holistically beneficial. Analysis by WRI shows that desalination alone cannot quench China’s thirst and the team explains why investments in less power hungry solutions should be prioritized.