{"id":19218,"date":"2016-07-12T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T23:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=news&p=19218"},"modified":"2024-08-16T10:19:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T09:19:04","slug":"british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Climate change poses a real threat to British businesses, with flooding and water availability already causing significant damages and disruptions to the provision of goods and services across the UK, according to one of the authors of the ‘UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017<\/path><\/svg><\/a>’<\/strong>, which is published today (Tuesday 12 July) by the Committee on Climate Change.<\/p>\n

Dr Swenja Surminski<\/a>, lead author of the business and industry chapter of the risk assessment and Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, highlights evidence of the growing impacts that climate change is already having on businesses in the UK. She notes that there is now a ‘high risk’ of direct damages and disruption to businesses from flooding in many parts of the UK, and risks are expected to increase further in the future.<\/p>\n

UK businesses are also at risk from the effects of climate change around the world, Dr Surminski notes. For instance, extreme weather events are already disrupting supply chains and distribution networks in south and south-east Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Dr Surminski and her co-authors point out that small businesses are poorly prepared to cope with climate change and that urgent attention is needed to increase their resilience to climate risks. In particular, small businesses must prepare for the indirect effects of extreme weather. For instance, extreme weather can cause delays to deliveries and can prevent customers and employees from being able to reach the workplace.<\/p>\n

The risk assessment states: “The knock-on impacts of severe weather include disruptions to supply chains and distribution channels, and impacts on staff, leading to lost business and reputational damage. These can be as damaging particularly for small businesses as the direct impacts of severe weather.”<\/p>\n

Dr Surminski calls for the Government to increase efforts to inform businesses of their current and future exposure to flooding and other extreme events, and to tell them how they can limit damages and disruptions.<\/p>\n

She also calls for the Government to promote growth in adaptation related goods and services and to support businesses in realising any potential opportunities arising from climate change. For instance, there may be increased demand for some existing and new products and services, such as engineering and consulting, tourism, insurance and other finance products, and agriculture and food.<\/p>\n

The risk assessment states that “the UK has expertise in many areas to develop climate-related products and services”. It adds: “To date evidence is limited on how the UK is performing in emerging adaptation-related markets at home and abroad. Opportunities to grow exports may be being missed.”<\/p>\n

Dr Surminski argues that individual businesses are ultimately responsible for managing their own exposure to climate change. The risk assessment states: “Whilst managing flood risks will be possible and affordable in some areas in others risks are expected to rise. Businesses therefore need to understand their exposure and not assume that authorities will manage risks on their behalf.”<\/p>\n

The chapter on business and industry concludes that the Government has a clear role to play in helping businesses adapt to climate change by introducing policies, implementing regulation, sharing information and raising awareness.<\/p>\n

For more information about this media release please contact Ben Parfitt <\/strong>b.parfitt@lse.ac.uk<\/strong><\/a> or Bob Ward <\/strong>r.e.ward@lse.ac.uk<\/strong><\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOTES FOR EDITORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/grantham<\/a>) was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (https:\/\/www.granthamfoundation.org\/<\/path><\/svg><\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Dr Swenja Surminski is a Senior Research Fellow at theGrantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment<\/a> at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the lead author of Chapter 6 (Business and industry) of the Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. The Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017<\/path><\/svg><\/a> will be published at 00.01 on Tuesday 12 July by the Committee on Climate Change.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        -ENDS-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

        Climate change poses a real threat to British businesses, with flooding and water availability already causing significant damages and disruptions…<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-category":[15],"topic_area":[4692],"class_list":["post-19218","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news-category-10-press-releases","topic_area-adaptation-and-resilience"],"acf":{"exclude_from_sync":{"ref_value":"field_560538b0e7350","value":"0","type":false,"post_type":""},"downloads":{"ref_value":"field_52f16cc1a80f2","value":false,"type":"repeater","post_type":""},"rss_newsletter":{"ref_value":"field_54f5c2c1544d8","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"spotlight":{"ref_value":"field_52f80896506d3","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""}},"yoast_head":"\nBritish businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Climate change poses a real threat to British businesses, with flooding and water availability already causing significant damages and disruptions...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-16T09:19:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news\\\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news\\\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\\\/\",\"name\":\"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-11T23:01:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-16T09:19:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news\\\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news\\\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news\\\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News & commentaries\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news-and-commentary\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Press release\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/news-category\\\/10-press-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"description\":\"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","og_description":"Climate change poses a real threat to British businesses, with flooding and water availability already causing significant damages and disruptions...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","article_modified_time":"2024-08-16T09:19:04+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/","name":"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-11T23:01:09+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-16T09:19:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/british-businesses-at-risk-of-damages-and-disruptions-from-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News & commentaries","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news-and-commentary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Press release","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news-category\/10-press-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"British businesses at risk of damages and disruptions from climate change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/","name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","description":"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"taxonomies":{"news-category":["Press release"],"topic_area":["Adaptation and resilience"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/19218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/19218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73683,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/19218\/revisions\/73683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19218"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=19218"},{"taxonomy":"topic_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic_area?post=19218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}