Advice has been published to help companies ‘adapt to the consequences already unfolding’ around climate change.

The white paper, by AXA Group’s environmental arm AXA Climate and training organisation Climate School, urges firms to ensure they are tackling the “two complementary facets of climate action” to reduce emissions and respond to current and emerging threats to the planet.

Businesses need to “do everything they can to avoid the unmanageable and, at the same time, manage the inevitable”, they warn.

It offers practical tips for businesses to adapt, including the economic impacts caused by climate change such as flooding and rising temperatures.

Firms are also urged to understand risk where they operate, use climate projections and to determine priority areas for action.

Exploring the feasible adaptations that are needed is another piece of advice as is the importance of developing a climate action adaption plan.

“It is essential to identify priority climate risks in terms of their frequency, intensity and the value of the activities concerned, says the white paper.

“Companies must define new objectives, select adaptation measures, preferably based on nature, and assess their feasibility and effectiveness in line with their risk profile and operational risk mapping.”

It adds: “Companies now have no choice but to step up their human and financial efforts to adapt to climate change. Starting with their operations, of course, but rapidly extending these efforts to their entire value chain.”

AXA Climate’s UK business development lead Olivia Partington, said: “In the United Kingdom, we’ve seen adaptation rise on the corporate agenda last year: which scenario to choose, where to adapt first, how to avoid maladaptation.

“For companies, the challenge involves combining a global, strategic vision with a very local understanding of the issues. This requires the involvement of a wide range of profiles - HR, site managers, and more.”

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