by Anita Yang

Introduction

The world has fundamentally changed. For good or bad, climate change is impacting the way that businesses operate. Corporations can no longer ignore the social or environmental impact of their activities nor can they hope to prosper based on thinking that looks no further than quarterly results. While policies and regulations and public scrutiny may push certain industries to pay attention, businesses that will truly survive in a carbon-constrained world will be the ones that recognize the challenges and respond innovatively and constructively by creating opportunities for themselves.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a background on what climate change is, how it is impacting the way corporations do businesses and more importantly, the business opportunities that are present for corporations that are flexible and innovative in their approaches to addressing climate change.