Giving Compass' Take:

• It is advantageous for companies to address climate change because investing in sustainability has both environmental and financial gains for corporations. 

• The author says that investing in sustainability is becoming a global trend for businesses. What are the corporate motivations behind this trend and do they matter?

• Read more about how much effort is needed from companies to address climate change damages. 

With the recent release of the United Nations’ Climate Report concluding that “there is no simple answer to the questions of whether it is feasible…to adapt to the consequences . . .” of its findings, it’s left many people wondering where to start addressing the daunting tasks at hand – especially with headlines claiming that taking action to combat climate change could cost America “trillions” of dollars. The finances of addressing climate action, however, raise an important question: Are these challenges—the environmental one and the financial one—mutually exclusive?

The short answer is no. But the long answer is a much more positive and informative one, touching on the increasingly evident idea that adopting environmentally-focused policies and priorities can, in fact, make for really good business.

The simple but powerful idea that both the environmental world and the world of business have begun to understand is that sustainability is a holistic idea. More and more investors are starting to understand the risk of putting their money into a business that is vulnerable to climate change, either physically or financially.

Underlining this point, we’re now witnessing a widening and deepening trend of global corporations betting on sustainable solutions. Only days after the U.N.’s report was released, one of the world’s biggest banks, based in the United Kingdom, announced an initiative to invest $330 million of the bank’s own pension scheme in renewables. The bank was not alone, as 30 other large firms across the U.K. joined the initiative.

Businesses like these, which are laser-focused on growth and corporate earnings, simply cannot afford to make dubious business decisions because they feel some kind of cultural pressure or a need to prove their environmental credentials.

They’re making these changes because they know they will have a positive impact on the bottom line.

Read the full article about companies that benefit from addressing climate change by Adam Sansiveri at TriplePundit