The Role of Past Experience with a Single Climate Physical Risk in Adaptation Response to Multiple Climate Physical Risks: A Multiple Case Study of Italian Companies

Federica Gasbarro,Tiberio Daddi,Fabio Iraldo

doi:10.5539/jms.v9n2p162

Federica Gasbarro, Tiberio Daddi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jms.v9n2p162

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Abstract

With the increasing occurrence and intensity of weather and climate extremes, adaptation to climate change has become an imperative for all the societal actors, including companies. Business adaptation behavior is influenced by specific internal and external conditions. Based on a multiple case study of Italian companies within the project Life IRIS (Improve Resilience of Industry Sector), the paper examines the interaction of multiple physical risk drivers and organizational factors that trigger a change in the adaptation behavior of companies to climate change, from a deferred behavior to a reactive one and, then, to a pre-emptive behavior over time. In particular, the study shows how past experience with a single climate event can trigger a comprehensive strategy to deal with multiple climate events. Implications for management practice and policymakers are discussed at the end of the paper.

Highlights

As the detrimental role of human activity on the global climate has been acknowledged, political, social and business actors need to direct their efforts towards researching alternative patterns of production and consumption to mitigate climate change, in order to affect the rate and magnitude of change, while, at the same time, researching possible ways to adapt to climate change impacts on social and business activities (IPCC, 2014)
Based on a multiple case study of Italian companies within the project Life IRIS (Improve Resilience of Industry Sector), the paper examines the interaction of multiple physical risk drivers and organizational factors that trigger a change in the adaptation behavior of companies to climate change, from a deferred behavior to a reactive one and, to a pre-emptive behavior over time
The previous floods did not lead the company to implement anticipatory adaptation measures with impacts on ecosystem services conservation, the last flood has changed the perception of the company, which has decided to undertake a path of adaptation to climate change with non-routine measures

Summary

Introduction

As the detrimental role of human activity on the global climate has been acknowledged, political, social and business actors need to direct their efforts towards researching alternative patterns of production and consumption to mitigate climate change, in order to affect the rate and magnitude of change, while, at the same time, researching possible ways to adapt to climate change impacts on social and business activities (IPCC, 2014). The need of adaptation measures to reduce the vulnerability and increase the human and environmental resilience against the impacts of current and future climate change requires enhanced disaster risk reduction and preparedness (UN Global Compact & UNEP, 2012). Firms could activate society to adopt anticipatory measures to deal with the physical impacts of climate change (Berkhout, 2012; Linnenluecke, Griffiths, & Winn, 2013). They could be precious partner in post climate events relief and disaster recovering (Johnson, Connolly, & Carter, 2011). On the one hand companies need to adapt to climate-induced jms.ccsenet.org

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