Paper: Stimulating business engagement in climate change adaptation

There is an urgent need to increase climate action globally. SNV applies market-based approaches to the area of climate change adaptation in order to improve the lives of the poorest, while producing tangible benefits to business. Our growing portfolio of work offers demonstrable business cases that can be further scaled up in order to accelerate the contribution of businesses to climate adaptation worldwide. Without climate-informed development, climate change could erode development gains and force an estimated 100 million more people into extreme poverty by 2030.

In this paper we outline the key approaches and tools, we have been applying to stimulate private sector engagement in climate change adaptation in order to alleviate poverty.

Estimates show that the global costs of climate change adaptation are likely to be in the range of  €120-250 billion per year after 2030, but there is a considerable gap between the actions taken and the need for action and financing. There is a critical urgency to catalyse the expertise and innovation capacity of the private sector, develop new technologies, and tap into the financial leverage businesses can provide.

Particular attention needs to be paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to their often large contributions to national economies and their activities in climate sensitive sectors. Companies are increasingly experiencing a diverse range of direct benefits from engaging in actions that increase climate resilience. These include the ability to better manage and mitigate risks, decreased costs, increased profits, access to new markets, and reputational gains.

SNV has taken its expertise in working with the private sector and applied this to the area of climate change adaptation. We develop and implement market-based approaches that support inclusive business for the benefit of the most climate-vulnerable in society. SNV is helping to stimulate businesses in a range of climate-smart activities.