Business on the Edge 2024

Value chain implications of climate hazards Recommendations Avoid economic lossIncrease revenue, cost savings & sustainability Protect communities & ecosystems Enhance resilience Capitalize on opportunities Shape collaborative outcomes Integrate climate risk management tools. Boost resilience via enhanced forecasting and supply chain vulnerability assessments. Introduce precision agriculture. Reduce climate-related crop loss through predictive weather analytics, soil monitoring, irrigation management and optimized planting. Adapt logistics. Adjust the time of transport and place of storage according to heat conditions. Strenghten critical infrastructure. Reinforce roofs, install storage shutters and storm defence systems. Implement nature-based solutions. Create sustainable farm management strategies (e.g. through vegetated buffer zones and restoring ponds and wetlands).Introduce climate-resilient agricultural products. Boost R&D into climate-resilient and especially drought-tolerant varieties; develop water-efficient products. Drive food innovation. Scale-up plant- based and food bio-technology such as precision fermentation, to decarbonize, drive resilience and diversify ingredient sourcing across the value chain. Drive efficiencies. Consider solutions such as controlled environment agriculture to optimize land use, shorten supply chains, enable year-round cultivation, limit water use and reduce exposure to unpredictable weather conditions.Drive regenerative agriculture. Help local communities adopt restorative farming practices and foster value chain collaboration to boost long-term yields. Incentivize farmers to adapt. Support new management practices such as adjusting planting schedules, enhancing irrigation methods and implementing intercropping techniques. Address perverse incentives. Bake biological diversity into decision-making by implementing natural capital accounting to evaluate costs and benefits. Support community-led initiatives and sustainability certification to promote land restoration. Tropical cyclones and flooding increase vulnerability to diseases and pathogens leading to substantial losses in crop yields. Extreme heat causes accelerating ripening which leads to reduced yield quality and quantity. Extreme heat poses challenges to livestock and marine life, decreasing animal and fish health, productivity and overall welfare.Extreme heat leads to less availability of water from freshwater sources. Tropical cyclones and floods pollute freshwater sources needed for harvesting, leading to additional water treatment costs. Extreme heat threatens agricultural workers’ health and safety, leading to health problems, decreased productivity and increased absenteeism from work.Climate hazards physically damage storage facilities, leading to direct loss of stored crops and creating conditions for mould and decay. Extreme heat undermines the efficiency of cold chain transportation, resulting in increased shipping costs. Climate hazards disrupt transportation networks, delaying food supplies and increasing logistics costs, due to detours and additional labour.Cultivation & livestock farming Harvesting Storage & transport Extreme heat Wildfire Tropical cyclone Coastal flooding Fluvial flooding Water stress Drought Business on the Edge: Building Industry Resilience to Climate Hazards 50