New data from PwC has revealed that nearly one third of CEOs expect climate change to alter the way their business plans to generate value over the next three years.
Ways in which CEOs are preparing against climate change is by improving energy efficiency. Around two-thirds have put in place initiatives to improve their business’ energy efficiency and 10% have complemented schemes.
Around 50% have “work in progress” to innovate climate friendly products or services.
PwC have stated that “too many CEOs report having no plans for a range of other climate actions” however. While more than half of CEOs surveyed have incorporated climate risk into their financial plans, nearly one-third don’t have plans to do so.
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The professional services company says that this may be due to the fact that business leaders have factored in climate risk with their insurance companies without thinking about the long-term risk and only looked at their part in their supply chain.
The survey also suggests significant support for decarbonisation, with only 26% saying that a lack of board or management buy-in is at least a moderate barrier to decarbonisation.
Instead, CEOs cite regulatory complexity (54%) and lower economic returns for climate friendly investments (51%) as the biggest barriers to be overcome.
Business leaders are beginning to take on the economic barrier, with four in ten reporting that they have accepted lower hurdle rates for climate-friendly investments than for other investments—in the majority of cases between one and four percentage points lower.
