Foreword

Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies That Address Climate Change

There is a growing consensus among corporate leaders that taking action on climate change is a responsible business decision. From market shifts to regulatory constraints, climate change poses real risks and opportunities that companies must begin planning for today, or risk losing ground to their more forward-thinking competitors. Prudent steps taken now to address climate change can improve a company’s competitive position relative to its peers and earn it a seat at the table to influence climate policy. With more and more action at the state level and increasing scientific clarity, it is time for businesses to craft corporate strategies that address climate change.

In this Pew Center report, author Andrew Hoffman of the University of Michigan has developed a “how to” manual for companies interested in developing effective climate strategies. One of the clearest conclusions is that businesses need to engage actively with government in the development of climate policy. After years of inaction, momentum is growing at the federal level to pass mandatory climate legislation. Nearly all the companies surveyed in this report believe that federal legislation is imminent, and 84 percent of those believe federal standards will take effect before 2015. With a number of new climate bills forthcoming, it is clear that Congress has entered the design phase for legislation. Now is the ideal time for the corporate sector to engage constructively with lawmakers to ensure that sensible policy is developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost.

And constructive engagement is tightly linked with another compelling theme of this report: the shift of companies’ focus to creating climate-related market opportunities. Companies with a strong history of reducing emissions are shifting their focus from risk management to exploring new business platforms. They understand better than their peers that new markets will be created and existing ones will change. There will be winners and losers. The shape of climate legislation will be the strongest factor in determining how the market rewards innovators of climate-friendly products and services, as well as how it punishes laggards. More than ever, integrating climate issues into corporate strategy is a necessary aspect of managing risk and seizing competitive advantage.

The Pew Center would like to thank Mike Lenox, Forest Reinhardt, and Paul Tebo for their comments on an earlier draft of the report; Alcoa, Cinergy (now Duke Energy), DuPont, the Shell Group, Swiss Re, and Whirlpool for agreeing to be profiled for the case studies in the report; all the companies that completed the Corporate Strategies Survey; and the many member companies of our Business Environmental Leadership Council that provided comments and guidance throughout the research process.