Climate action. It’s not just a moral argument, it’s a business one too

We know business decisions are not binary. It’s not a case of saving polar bears or delivering investor returns. The two can co-exist. In fact, businesses that do the right thing are resilient and deliver investor returns.

Similarly, long-term existential business risk becomes real if short-term market volatility is always prioritised over tackling medium-term climate risk. What have boards got to lose by scanning the horizon and preparing appropriately?

Be bold and act. That is the message from Chapter Zero. The best-case scenario? Boards secure the future of the business. The worst case is a little mocking…but bold boards that act will have the last laugh. The solutions will be theirs.

There will always be naysayers. They may have heard enough, stuck their fingers in their ears, turned away. But climate change isn’t going away. Now is the time for innovation, creativity and transformation – across all businesses, all sectors and all disciplines.

So, when that email warning of catastrophic insurance premiums reaches inboxes, don’t just forward it. Read it. And consider not only what climate change means for insurance, but also for the wider business context: access to capital, access to assurance, the future of value chains and so on.

There’s no place to hide. Just as climate change is impacting every other business, it’s also impacting yours and everyone you do business with.

Campaigning to inspire

These scenarios are at the heart of Chapter Zero’s campaign – gifted by the Financial Times – to inspire boards to be brave and do something.

The objective is to accelerate the speed at which boards embed climate into business strategy by reframing climate from a regulatory imperative focused on reporting to a forward-looking strategic imperative to achieve long-term business resilience.

There are thousands of business reasons for climate action. From self-preservation to growth, from outpacing your competitors to value chain security. Climate action is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s an essential part of operations. And in this campaign, we make that case.

Climate action. It's not just a moral argument. It’s a business one too.