Does Climate Change Present an Opportunity or a Risk?
McKinsey’s questionable survey of executives about climate change did score some points with me when asking about climate change as an opportunity or a risk. Business people are smart; they see opportunity and risks in everything that comes along- even a vague, politically loaded one like climate change:
“Executives reveal little consensus when asked how they view the impact of climate change within their companies, but a significant proportion of respondents see risk and opportunity as equally balanced. Executives from the energy and manufacturing industries are the most likely to see a balance. Respondents in Europe are the most optimistic: about one-quarter say that climate change presents mostly opportunities. Respondents in developed Asian countries are least so, with the same proportion indicating that climate change presents mostly risks.”
It’s telling that companies in Europe, where the climate change issue is “hotter” but still ill defined, have a more opportunistic view. I would expect this only because they do not want to appear negative on the issue to the public. Also revealing is that Asian companies, where economic expansion tends to trump climate change, view the issue in a negative, and more realistic, way. This obvious catering to public opinion on an extremely vague issue is what companies do because they can afford to. If the climate change issue transforms into several well-defined issues companies will have to address it more clearly and come up with clear opportunities and risks.
What do you think? Does the survey reveal anything about opportunity or risk? Or does it simply reflect companies catering to the current whims of the public? Is this survey before it’s time? i.e., does the “climate change” issue need more development before such a survey can tell us anything of value?
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