Big business to planet Earth: 'drop dead'

Only 38% of FTSE 350 respondents factored in climate change risks on business practices and reported the risks to their investors, according to an April report from Acclimatise, an English risk management company specialising in climate change.

The FTSE 350 groups the largest companies by capitalisation on the London Stock Exchange. The report found that, although 87% of the FTSE respondents acknowledged that their company was exposed to the negative impacts of climate change, only 15% integrated climate change adaptation into their corporate governance practices.

However, 32% saw profits to be made out of climate change, through potential gains in market share and "reputation". One company seeing a reputation advantage appears to be the IT giant IBM; it funded the survey.

From GLW issue 794