ABSTRACT

Many executives facing 'climate mitigation fatigue' will be naturally skeptical of similar-sounding adaptation business cases. A lack of corporate action on climate change adaptation most likely reflects self-interest as perceived through the filter of decision-maker incentives and perceptions of risk. Companies say they are devoting more and more attention to business initiatives aimed at climate change adaptation. Climate change adaptation is about reducing a company's future vulnerability to the impacts of climate change on a particular facility, its global operations, or its supply chain. The starting point for most climate forecasts are general circulation models. Efforts at adaptation planning can encounter barriers based on the realities of corporate decision-making under uncertainty. In principle, a climate change adaptation decision, at least for particular piece of infrastructure, could seem analytically and quantitatively rigorous, with a clear outcome. Adaptation planning will have to be characterized by decision-making under uncertainty (and sometimes quite substantial uncertainty).