Key Points
Multinational corporations and regionally-based business
coalitions are beginning to address adaptation to climate
change. Corporations taking the lead tend to be financial
institutions, particularly insurance companies.
Private Sector Initiatives
The private sector has begun to address the issue
of adaptation to climate change. Although many private
sector activities are focused on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions through energy efficiency, such activities
improve the region’s capacity to deal with warming
in general and heat waves in particular. Most private
sector activities to date have involved large multi-national
corporations, many of which are based in the region,
and/or coalitions of regional businesses and associated
trade or professional organizations. The multinational
corporations taking the lead in examining and in some
cases responding to the threat of climate change are
often financial institutions, particularly insurance
companies.
Regional Business Coalitions
As example of a regionally-based business coalition,
the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP),
a consortium of 38 New England gas and electric utilities,
released the 2004 Business Plan to Support Regional
Energy Efficiency Partnerships. The document not only
outlines climate change action plans that have been
instituted in New York and other northeast states,
but also lays out plans for further climate change
action strategies.
Multinational Corporations
One example of activities undertaken by multinational
corporations is the Investor’s Summit on Climate
Risk. New York City was the site for the recent meeting
that focused on the effects of environmental regulations
and future climate changes upon financial institutions
and created the Investor Network on Climate Risk. The
summit resulted in a ‘call for action’ that
was signed by both private pension fund managers and
public officials, including New York State Comptroller
Alan Hevesi and New York City Comptroller William Thompson.
The Investor Network is also affiliated with the Coalition
for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES),
a coalition of investment funds, environmental organizations,
and public interest groups that includes such organizations
as the Sierra Club and the Fair Trade Foundation. CERES
is endorsed by corporations like American Airlines,
Consolidated Edison, and Bank of America.
Insurance Companies
Reinsurance companies, especially Swiss Re, are also
addressing climate change issues and encouraging their
clients to do the same. Swiss Re, along with the United
Nations Development Programme and the Centre for Health
and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School,
formed the Climate Change Futures Project, an international,
multidisciplinary project designed to formulate future
scenarios and their consequences based on a set of
climate projections and development trajectories. The
Climate Change Futures Project has sponsored several
workshops and conferences with corporate leaders, scientists,
and economists to integrate climate change understanding
with public health, biological resources, and the long-term
security of investments.
|
