(Credit: Pixabay)Nearly two-thirds (74%) of senior decision-makers agree that their company’s management must improve its skill set to deal with climate-related risks, believing that a failure to do so could pose a threat to jobs, according to a survey of more than 500 directors and C-suite executives from leading companies. The survey, conducted by Eversheds Sutherland and KPMG, also showed that 78% of executives believe climate risk is a key factor in whether they will keep their jobs over the next five years.
Only 26% of executives said they have the skill set to deal with climate risk. This indicates that companies need to “upskill their staff,” including their boards, says Michelle T. Davies, international head of clean energy and sustainability at Eversheds Sutherland. Areas of education should include corporate PPAs, energy management and the circular economy, adds Mike Hayes, global head of renewables for KPMG International.
While twenty-five percent said they work for companies that offer financial incentives for directors who achieve decarbonization targets, the push to improve skills that will help them deal with climate-related is also coming from below: 40% of respondents said that employees are leaving because they are unhappy with their employer’s climate impact, and a third of respondents said employees have actively expressed dissatisfaction with their employer’s climate impact. And 14% of respondents said it is more difficult recruiting young people because of their views on the company’s climate impact.
Davies warns companies about the risk of “losing key stakeholders such as investors and customers” if they fail to “decarbonize sustainably.”
“Importantly, this is about a transition,” states the report. “We are at point A and we will not be at point B tomorrow. Nonetheless, a corporate strategy that is capable of being implemented to achieve decarbonization and resilience to climate risk needs to be in place now.”
Global businesses are facing an era of unprecedented disruption and transformation as a direct result of climate change. The financial cost of climate change risk, estimated to be upwards of $1 trillion, poses a significant threat to businesses, according to the report.
