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an Eldis Resource

Making climate your business: private sector adaptation in Southeast Asia

How business can act to help South East Asia adapt to climate change

Authors: ; World Resources Institute
Publisher: CSR Asia, 2009

This report discusses the impact of climate change in South East Asia stressing the critical importance of adaptation to inevitable impacts, such as more natural disasters.The report aims to help businesses to:

  •  understand the issues surrounding climate change adaptation
  • learn what government, civil society, and other private sector actors are doing to promote adaptation
  • identify the risks and opportunities that climate change impacts present for business and for the broader society
  • and provide examples of how companies can act on these risks and opportunities for their own and others benefit
The report groups risks and opportunities for businesses into five general categories: operational; regulatory and legal; reputational; market and product; and financing. It argues that the private sector will play a substantial role in determining the level of adaptation success achieved across the region, given its ability to respond nimbly to new threats and opportunities, and its role as a source of creativity and innovation. A business’s response will depend on the type of business, its place in a larger economic, political, and social context, and the unique ways that climate change affects its work. The report calls on businesses to consider the likely effects of climate change in their risk planning, just as they would any other risk that includes some uncertainty.