How does climate change affect businesses – in Austria and internationally? This Mission Expert Talk sheds light on economic risks along global supply chains, the legal framework for climate change adaptation, and the opportunities that the adaptation process can offer businesses.
The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly tangible in Central Europe too, and are no longer limited to individual sectors. Businesses face a wide range of challenges: from protecting their employees on hot days to adapting buildings and infrastructure, and safeguarding supply chains and business models against climate-related disruptions.
In the Mission Expert Talk, we'll be exploring the following questions:
What economic risks does climate change bring?
Climate-related damage and disruption affects businesses not only directly on-site, but also indirectly through international supply and value chains. This means that cross-border risks are increasingly coming into focus alongside local impacts.
How can businesses respond?
What's needed are forward-looking adaptation measures that think beyond the immediate location. These include strategic risk management, more resilient infrastructure, and a more considered approach to dependencies within global production networks.
What opportunities does the adaptation process create?
Climate change adaptation isn't just about costs and investment. It can also drive innovation, open up new business areas, and make companies more resilient and future-oriented in the long run.
Insights from research and practice
- Assoz.-Prof. Birgit Bednar-Friedl from the Institute of Economics and the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz opens the talk with insights into the global economic interconnections of Austrian businesses. She illustrates what consequences events such as flooding or severe droughts in Southeast Asia can have for production and value creation in Europe, and why climate change adaptation needs to be thought through beyond one's own location.
- Dr. Linda Hölscher from adelphi research then turns her attention to Germany, where climate change adaptation is also enshrined in law. She examines how the policy framework influences business action and why the investment required represents not only a challenge, but also potential for innovation and new business areas.
Together with our experts, we'll be discussing how a better understanding of local and cross-border climate risks can open up new scope for action and help make businesses more resilient and future-oriented.
Please note: The Mission Expert Talk will not be recorded.
