Capgemini Insights: How Businesses Can Adapt and Thrive in a Changing Climate
Overview
As climate risks intensify, businesses must shift from reactive risk management to proactive climate adaptation. Capgemini’s latest report outlines how emerging technologies can help companies protect their value chains and unlock new opportunities for sustainable growth.
Photo via Capgemini
The Climate Challenge: Five Critical Risks
Capgemini identifies five major climate-related threats that businesses face across their value chains:
Natural raw material scarcity
Water and energy insecurity
Infrastructure damage
Market shifts
Impacts on human productivity
These risks are no longer distant possibilities—they’re immediate challenges that demand strategic action.
A Dual-Pathway Approach to Adaptation
The report introduces a dual-pathway strategy for climate adaptation:
Protect Value: Strengthen the resilience of existing systems to withstand climate shocks.
Create Value: Transition to new, climate-resilient business models that capitalize on emerging opportunities.
This approach encourages companies to not only defend their operations but also innovate for long-term sustainability.
Five Technologies Driving Resilience
Capgemini highlights five transformative technologies that are already reshaping climate adaptation:
Artificial Intelligence (AI): For predictive analytics and smarter decision-making.
Drones: To monitor environmental conditions and infrastructure.
Earth Observation: Satellite data to assess climate risks in real time.
Internet of Things (IoT): For real-time monitoring of water, energy, and supply chains.
Engineering Biology: To develop climate-resilient crops and materials.
These tools are not just theoretical—they’re being applied in real-world scenarios to secure resources, ensure energy and water availability, and build robust infrastructure.
A Three-Phase Roadmap for Action
To help organizations embed adaptation into their core strategies, Capgemini proposes a three-phase roadmap:
Build a Foundation: Understand climate risks and assess vulnerabilities.
Launch & Grow: Pilot tech-driven solutions and integrate them into operations.
Scale Up: Expand successful initiatives across the business ecosystem.
This structured approach enables companies to move beyond compliance and toward innovation-driven sustainability.
Real-World Case Studies
The report features case studies from Cambridge Consultants, showcasing how these technologies are already being used to:
Secure raw material supply chains
Enhance water and energy resilience
Reinforce infrastructure against climate impacts
These examples provide a blueprint for how other businesses can follow suit.
Capgemini’s report is a call to action: climate adaptation is not just about survival—it’s about seizing the opportunity to lead in a rapidly changing world. By embracing technology and embedding resilience into their DNA, businesses can turn climate risk into a competitive advantage.
