RSS feedsAccording to a survey of delegates at the Business Continuity Expo in London last month, which was sponsored by insurance brokers Marsh, 87% of the 150 major UK and European companies that took part in the study said they thought climate change was the largest threat in terms of risk on their businesses’ future growth, even greater than the credit crunch, red tape, offshoring or outsourcing.
Of the businesses that responded, 83% felt there was a serious risk from shrinking energy reserves and threatened supply, while many said the cost of oil and gas would rise so significantly over the next five years that prices would adversely impact their companies.
“Climate change and energy risk consistently rank among the biggest challenges facing global businesses in 2008,” said Martin Caddick, head of Marsh’s business continuity management division. Caddick said most of the respondents were at a loss as to what could be done to prepare for the energy gap, or the damage that climate change could inflict on their businesses.
He added that, although most businesses could identify the most pressing threats to their business continuity, few “seem to be successful in tackling them head on”. A small majority (60%) of respondents said they felt unprepared for an energy shortage, even though they believed it was a major threat.
