- October 12, 2022
- By Joshua Reid
- Advice , Politics
- awareness , carbon pricing , climate , climate change , greenhouse gases
How Does Climate Change Awareness Generate Business Opportunities?
Businesses have a role in how climate change affects not just their business services and products but also society. They also have a role to play in helping bring awareness to the issue of climate change, whether through conferences, meetings between employees and leadership, or bringing awareness to the toll the fossil fuel and automobile industries are having on the climate. However, by bringing awareness to the necessity of climate change, a business could open themselves up to potential opportunities, like developing partnerships with other corporations and organizations.
How does climate change awareness generate business opportunities?
As the name suggests, climate change awareness brings awareness to the problem of climate change in various mediums. In an article by World Economic Forum titled “The heat is on businesses to respond to climate change” author John Drzik notes that there is mounting pressure on businesses to adapt and prevent the “direct impacts of climate risk and its connected downstream risks.” For Drzik, since 2019, there has been an uplift in the fight for climate change from nonviolent civil disobedience actions to “greenhouse agendas” as political issues.
Business are allowedthe opportunity to become a part of the climate change dialogue surrounding what the nation, the world, and certain industries could do to deal with climate change. For businesses, being a part of the dialogue about what the effects of climate change could have on the environment and society as a whole shouldn’t be overlooked. Additionally, bringing climate change awareness to the forefront of a business could generate opportunities to potentially restructure their business strategy and what services or products they could market.
“Companies should actively monitor legislative and regulatory developments so they don’t get caught out by policy changes or unexpected regulation.”
John Drzik
Services or products that could be affected by or are affecting the ever-changing climate should be considered on whether they should be marketable. Businesses want to make money and ensure they can progress into the future. so, having companies monitor the shifting developments of the business trends, industry and society could provide them that time to reflect on their business strategy.
Drzik notes that companies should prepare themselves for increased pressure on such climate issues, from everyone from investors to local communities. An article by the UN Chronicle titled “Business And Climate Change: Rising Public Awareness Creates Significant Opportunity” notes that emissions trading (placing a price on carbon) has become one of the “strongest trends in tackling GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions.” For businesses helping bring awareness to climate change, an opportunity to help further discussions about the emergence of emissions trading could be one way that climate change helps businesses. As the climate change issue continues to grow, this opens the doorway to potential new markets that wouldn’t have been accessed otherwise.
“The flip side of risk is opportunity, and as carbon pricing evolves and consumer awareness increases, new markets are already opening up. Even at a basic level, reducing emissions can result in significant cost savings.”
Climate change awareness generates various business opportunities if a business knows where to look for them. Whether that be through conferences or helping carbon prices evolve, businesses have opportunities to scour new markets that could help them in the future.
Sources
“Business And Climate Change: Rising Public Awareness Creates Significant Opportunity.” UN Chronicle.
Drzik, John. “The heat is on businesses to respond to climate change.” World Economic Forum. Accessed 30 June 2021.
