Amongst all the doom and gloom on the global climate crisis, there are opportunities. CDP*, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, who runs the global disclosure system that enables companies, cities, states and regions to measure and manage their environmental impacts, who have built the most comprehensive collection of self-reported environmental data in the world, give a new slant to climate change.

In their recent report, Global Climate Change Analysis 2018, on 215 of the biggest global companies - representing nearly US$17 trillion in market capitalization have valued the climate risks to their businesses to be:

• at almost US$1 trillion - with many likely to hit within the next 5 years
• Potential US$250 billion in losses due to the write-offs of assets.

AND, these companies calculate that the opportunities are US$2.1 trillion, nearly all of which are highly likely or virtually certain. Not only this:

• The potential value of sustainable business opportunities are almost 7x the cost of realizing them (US$311bn in costs, US$2.1 trillion in opportunities) 
• Financial companies forecast US$1.2 trillion in potential revenue from low emissions products & services 
• Fossil fuels companies report more opportunities than risks from the low-carbon transition, raising questions about what they are reporting.

The opportunities are bigger than the risks

In 2018, companies were directly asked to report on the potential financial impact figures of the risks and opportunities disclosed for the first time. 215 of the top 500 companies reported on what are the potential impacts of their climate-related risks and opportunities:

• By sector:
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• By region:
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  • Source & Copyright©2019 - CPD

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* CDP’s vision and mission: “We want to see a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. To do this we focus on investors, companies and cities on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring and understanding their environmental impact.”

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CTMfile take: There is no excuse, all companies can pursue climate change opportunities in the knowledge that they will cut their costs, increase profits and save the planet. Greta Thunberg, schoolgirl climate change warrior, would approve, and so would your children.