IEMA Special Report – Adapting to Climate Change Survey

Environment professionals are leading the way in helping organisations to adapt to a changing climate. The results of a recent survey of IEMA members, published in December 2009, show the extent to which the profession is actively engaged in the adaptation agenda.

Overall, there is a high level of engagement in planning for adaptation (62%). The sector breakdown of members' organisations planning for adaptation is: construction 64%; manufacturing 64%; electricity, gas and water supply (76%); transport, storage and communication (65%) and local government (90%). This level of engagement is significantly beyond what might be expected of organisations in the economy as a whole, and highlights the value that environment professionals can add in terms of instigating environmental and organisational change.

The survey also characterised the extent to which adaptation planning had identified threats and opportunities in the areas of:

• Markets � changing demand for goods and services
• Finance � implications for investments, insurance and reputation
• Logistics � vulnerability of supply chain, utilities and transport arrangements
• Premises � impacts on building design, construction and maintenance and facilities management
• People � implications for workforce, customers and changing lifestyles
• Process � impacts on production processes and service delivery