Bloomberg’s ESG climate analyst, Andrew John Stevenson tracks climate change financial impacts. He states that 32% of U.S. GDP growth since 2016 (see graph below) is attributable to economic activity related to repair and restoration for damages and disruptions caused by global warming.
Stevenson has developed a climate damages tracker that calculates the monthly economic impacts of extreme weather events including their impact on consumer credit, insurance risk, new business development, and household spending. The tracker looks at extreme weather events including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and droughts and assesses the economic costs.
There are beneficiaries coming out of climate change and its impacts. The following describes who are the winners and why as the world deals with the consequences of anthropogenic global warming.
Extreme weather brought on by climate change is boosting the revenue and profits of home restoration and improvement outlets like Home Depot as well as plumbers and electricians, companies providing offsite storage, equipment rentals, waste removal, and installers of heating and ventilation (HVAC) systems.
Wildfires, more extreme storms and intense hurricanes, sea level rise and coastal flooding are proving to be good for business. In the U.S., if you operate any of the previously mentioned businesses and are located in the states of Texas, Florida and Louisiana, then you likely are making a killing.
You would think that climate change would cost the economy. Climate change mitigation, however, is stimulating growth for companies touting sustainability and valid green credentials. Two global companies are good examples of businesses enjoying benefits to their bottom lines and share valuation.
Alphabet – Among the leaders benefiting from mitigation strategies is the parent company of Google. In 2007, Alphabet became carbon neutral. It is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy accounting for emission reductions equal to 5 million tons of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) annually. It plans to be 100% carbon-energy-free by 2030.
Unilever – This UK-based consumer products company has a Sustainable Agriculture Code and uses 100% sustainable sourcing for 26 of its current brands. The company has reduced GHG emissions by 65% and decreased total waste sent to landfills by 96% since 2008. It plans to be carbon-energy negative by 2030. Unilever is also changing its packaging from single-use plastic to refillable glass, metal and other reusable materials.
There are companies that provide expertise to other businesses and governments and are reaping bottom-line benefits from risk mitigation and planning related to infrastructure and supply chains, hardening businesses, homes, telecommunication networks, the electricity grid and other critical components of the modern economy to deal with climate change impacts. These include companies like Aon, MSA Safety, and Dycom Industries, which are outperforming the stock exchange S&P 500 by 107% over the past decade.
Here is a category of bottom-line benefitters you may not have considered. When banks and insurers remove themselves from providing funds or paying claims to those impacted by extreme weather events, alternate sources of money are the beneficiaries.
During the peak period of COVID-19 infections, payday loan providers did brisk business. The same is happening now in the face of climate-change-caused disruptions and damages. Extreme weather events make money for payday providers.
Payday loans are predatory debt traps that prey on low-income earners. But now they are getting customers because of our warming planet. When traditional lenders stop making funds available and insurers cancel policies and deny claims it doesn’t matter what level of income you are earning. The money has to come from somewhere when traditional financial institutions say no.
]]>Created by researchers at universities in Australia, the Blueprint is an online planning tool to help communities adapt and mitigate risks from climate change. Led by Dr. Stewart Frusher, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Professor Malcolm Tull, Murdoch University, and CSIRO, Australia’s leading multidisciplinary research organization, the Blueprint was developed over four years.
Considering the current Australian government’s lack of accountability for climate change, at least the Blueprint gives Australian coastal communities a means to understand potential impacts and strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
According to Tull the main climate pressures Australia is experiencing come from the warming of the ocean, increased acidity and more frequent extreme storm events. The Blueprint is organized by the following categories:
Right now the tool is specifically designed for Australia using research and data from three coastal regions of the country, one off Tasmania, one off North Queensland and the last off Western Australia. But the type of questions used by the Blueprint may have applicability to coastal communities outside of Australia as well.
If you want to try the Blueprint for yourself you can access the questionnaire here. Although your choices are limited to Australia’s states and territories for the moment, it is worth walking through it. I did it pretending I lived in Victoria State where Melbourne is located. As you work through the quiz it explains that each community is assessed based on “the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living.” And further community sustainability is measured on the basis that “it can recover from shocks to maintain or enhance its capabilities.”
The kinds of questions that the Blueprint may answer for a coastal community include:
With oceans getting warmer can a coastal community introduce new fish and crustaceans to local waters that can replace species in decline and thus save the local fishery?
Would strategically planted coastal wetland species of plants mitigate against the expected sea level increases and reduce potential damage from storm surges?
What changes to building and community infrastructure are needed to withstand projected rising temperatures and increased frequency of extreme weather?
The strategies include:
The United States joins the countries of the European Union who have also developed adaptation strategies to address climate change. So are many other countries around the globe based on the overwhelming scientific evidence that continues to point to human-caused atmospheric warming, ocean acidification, and declining biodiversity.
What is my country Canada doing? Not much. A read of the federal government site states we have “an aggressive approach to climate change that achieves real environmental and economic benefits for all Canadians.” But the reality is far different as evidenced by the latest data on Canada’s inability to meet its greenhouse gas Copenhagen commitments.
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