A short guide to climate change risk / Nigel Arnell.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Acronyms; Acknowledgements; 1 Climate Change as a Business Risk; Introduction: What is Climate Change? ; Climate Change and Business Risk ; Adapt to Impacts and Opportunities, or Reduce Emissions?; Climate Change and Sustainability; About this Book; Conclusion: Sources Of Information; 2 The Science of Climate Change; Introduction; Is Climate Changing, and Why?; The Physics of Climate Change; The Effects of Changes in the Atmosphere on Weather and Climate; Other Effects of Increasing Greenhouse Gases Has Climate Change Altered Recent Weather?How Might Climate Change in the Future? ; Forecasts, Predictions and Projections ; Conclusion; 3 The Consequences of Climate Change; Introduction; The Impacts of Climate Change ; Changes in climate at a place ; Potential impacts by sector ; National and international assessments of the impacts of climate change ; The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on an Organisation ; Reducing Impacts Through Adaptation; Conclusion; 4 The Politics of Climate Change: The Regulatory Context; Introduction; International Climate Policy: The Kyoto Protocol and Beyond The UNFCCC process The Kyoto Protocol and beyond ; Challenges to the UNFCCC process: where are the problems? ; What effect would reducing emissions have on climate change? ; Other components of the UNFCCC process ; National and Regional Legislation and Frameworks ; European Union; UK; USA; South Africa; Overview; Reporting on Climate Risks: Regulation and Voluntary Reporting; Regulatory requirements for reporting ; Voluntary reporting of climate change risks ; Conclusion; 5 Assessing Climate Change Risks and Opportunities Introduction: Addressing Risks and Opportunities through Risk Management ProcessesRisk Assessment; Scoping: establishing the context ; Risk identification ; Risk analysis ; Risk evaluation ; Information for Risk Assessment ; Climate scenarios; Climate scenario sources ; Translating climate change into impacts ; Conclusion; 6 Coping with the Risks of Climate Change; Introduction; Approaches to Adaptation ; Adapt to current vulnerabilities ; Predict and plan ; Precautionary approach ; Adaptive management ; Win-wins ; Identifying Adaptation Options; Enhancing adaptive capacity Adaptation actions Designing and Appraising Adaptation Options ; Adaptation objectives and evaluation criteria ; Appraisal tools ; Monitoring and Evaluation ; Conclusion; 7 An Overview; Index

Climate change poses a risk to business operations and to markets, and a poor business response to this risk can lead to reputational damage, or worse. At the same time, climate change can bring opportunities for some businesses. In this addition to Gower?s series of Short Guides to Business Risk, Professor Arnell, one of the world?s leading experts in the field, reviews this critical area of risk posed to businesses and other organisations by climate change and considers how they can respond to this threat. A Short Guide to Climate Change Risk focuses on the impacts and consequences of climate change rather than on business use of energy or business and 'sustainability' issues. The author examines the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to addressing these risks, with international case study examples. With chapters on the nature, science and politics of climate change, on the assessment and management of climate change risks, and recommendations for incorporating climate change risks into a Company Risk Management System, this concise guide serves the needs of business students and practitioners across a wide range of sectors, public and private.