Even the lightest dusting of snow can cause chaos in London – roads becoming impassable, schools close, and trains stop running. So it’s quite shocking to find that the UK is considered among the best prepared to deal with climate change.
The finding comes in research from CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, and Accenture. This found that supply chains in Brazil, China, India and the United States were more vulnerable to climate risks than those in Europe and Japan.
In contrast, supply chains in France the UK, Spain and Germany were found to be the most sustainable in terms of climate risk.
The report, “Supply chain sustainability revealed: a country comparison. CDP supply chain report 2014–15”, is based on data collected from 3,396 companies on behalf of 66 multi-national purchasers.
Suppliers in France, the UK, Spain and Germany have taken extensive measures despite comparatively low levels of exposure to climate risk, the report says. Japan is the only country with suppliers that are well-equipped to respond to high climate risks as they have matched their awareness and actions with the high levels of risk to which they are exposed.
Suppliers in China, Italy and the United States were found to be vulnerable. An imbalance between high exposure to climate risk and the steps that suppliers have taken in response to the situation leaves room for improvement for those in these geographies. Brazil, Canada and India needed to do more, the report said.
I’m sure that for a lot of people, this kind of national analysis is all very well, but what really matters is the direct impact on their businesses. Carbon reduction is not just about saving the planet, it’s also about saving money.
In fact, the proportion of companies showing monetary savings from their actions to reduce emissions has risen from 29 per cent in 2012 to 33 per cent in 2014. Even so, there is plenty of scope for further improvements.
Malory Davies FCILT,
Editor.
