Top firms \'fearing climate change\'

Major companies are increasingly concerned that they are at risk from climate change in the face of recent extreme weather events such as drought and floods, according to a report here Wednesday. More than a third (37 percent) see the physical risks of a changing climate such as extreme weather, rising sea levels and water scarcity as a real and present danger, up from just 10 percent two years ago, says the latest Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) survey of top global companies. Four-fifths (81 percent) identify climate change risks to their business operations, supply chains and plans, up from 71 percent last year. Of the 379 of the 500 companies who responded to the CDP's request for information about climate strategies and emissions data, 78 percent say they are now integrating climate change into their business strategy, up from 68 percent last year, the annual CDP Global 500 report said. Businesses and economies have been hit by increasing extreme weather events in the last few years, such as widespread heatwave and drought in the US this year, fires in Russia and flooding in the UK, Japan and Thailand. Paul Simpson, chief executive of CDP, said "Extreme weather events are causing significant financial damage to markets. Investors therefore expect corporations to think more about climate resilience". The report suggests that the economic downturn is behind recent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Reported emissions from major businesses have fallen by almost 14 percent since 2009 when the global economic crisis began to take hold, the equivalent of closing 227 gas-fired power stations. Almost a third of companies report no emissions reduction at all and only two-fifths say their emissions reductions were just down to steps they had taken to tackle climate change.