2019 may be remembered as the year when climate change activism went mainstream. At the end of September, in a series of rallies timed to coincide with the United Nations climate summit, an estimated six million people in more than 180 countries took to the streets to demand far more action to cut greenhouse emissions.

This was probably the biggest climate protest in history. Protests in the form of school walkouts had taken place throughout the world for a whole year. The ‘Extinction Rebellion’ initiative has added a further edge by seeking to demonstrate the potentially catastrophic consequences of inaction.

The build-up to this high level of awareness and activism has been slow. Government action began more than 30 years ago when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established, in 1988. The first global climate treaty was reached at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997.

The 2015 Paris Agreement to limit temperature increase and thereby substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change is a more recent effort to curb carbon emissions and has been ratified by 187 countries to date. 

Over the last two years, mounting public awareness, fanned by the widespread perception that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and by the growing weight of scientific evidence on changing weather patterns, has added further urgency to the debate. The result is that a wide range of actors is now evaluating the implications of climate change.

Below are seven of the most significant ways in which climate change affects Businesses.

1. Cap and Trade Rules

Cap-and-trade policies aim to lower carbon emissions by placing an upper limit on the amount of pollution a company can emit and allowing companies to sell any of their unused allowances to other companies.

Though many countries have introduced such programs, cap-and-trade policies have a checkered history in the U.S.

2. Higher Prices for Goods and Services

Even companies that aren’t in the energy industry can be indirectly affected by energy regulation and the costs they create.

Broad changes in prices for utilities and transportation must be passed on by suppliers. And the companies in the middle must pass them on to their customers.

3. Changing Weather Patterns

The SEC’s 2010 report notes that climate change is expected to change weather patterns throughout the world.

That reality has since been reiterated by many other sources, including the United Nations, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the American Meteorological Society.

4. Changing Environments

As weather patterns change they can bring rising sea levels, droughts, and other issues that are going to impact the jobs in the future, and which will alter how effective our work has been in the past.

5. Public Perception

In today’s business climate it’s not enough to offer a good product, or provide a good service; customers want to know where they stand.

When it comes to climate change, that means customers will want to see the green credentials up-front. 

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