The Long Hedge

For several years now I’ve felt that climate change is one of the main long-term risks facing business. At one point I even considered writing a book that would help companies prepare – involving the growing field of “climate resilience.” Now I’m glad I didn’t, as Jason West, an associate professor of finance at Griffith Business School in Brisbane, Australia, has – and it’s a better book than I would have written. The Long Hedge: Preserving Organizational Value through Climate Change Adaptation (Greenleaf Publishing) is a thorough, detailed look at the organizational risks climate change and extreme weather pose (e.g. to supply chains, infrastructure, agricultural operations, etc.) and the steps companies can take to evaluate risks and prepare. “It is generally accepted that businesses and governments will need to adapt their behavior and develop plans to respond to the challenges of climate change,” West writes in the Introduction. “While global-level adaptation techniques are varied and complex, this book focuses specifically on climate change adaptation mechanisms for companies and other entities, whose focus on adaptation has increased with the aim of protecting their business operations from climate change risk. In particular, our discussion will cover climate change adaptation governance, risk assessment and financial disclosure.” As West is a finance professor, the book does have a certain density to it, but that density also provides substance. I’d view it less as an easy evening’s read than a valuable long-term reference. There are chapters, for example, on “Business response to climate change,” “Adaptation activities,” “The costs of adaptation: assessment options,” “Adaptation: investor disclosure,” “Evaluating corporate sustainability,” “How to deploy these techniques: A user’s guide,” and more. Of particular interest is West’s focus on the implications of companies’ climate-change-related actions (or lack thereof) for the investment community. Most of what I’ve previously read about corporate “climate resilience” addresses operational readiness, but not the potential concerns of investors. “One of the aspects of climate change critical to investors and other stakeholders (particularly governmental regulators),” notes West, “is the ability of firms to clearly communicate their adaptation actions and plans. It is not unusual for firms to be uncertain of relevant disclosure requirements in the current corporate environment, let alone what additional disclosures are required when developing a major adaptation plan.” In short, for executives involved in corporate risk mitigation activities, the book is a multi-course meal to dig into. For over a decade while I was in the corporate world I served on teams that helped our company prepare for unexpected events. The teams went by a variety of names – Disaster Recovery, Business Recovery, etc. The experience was a little like the description I’ve heard of the role of an anesthesiologist: 23 hours and 59 minutes of boredom punctuated by one minute of terror. For the most part the preparatory work on these teams was fairly dull… but then when a disaster occurred, suddenly the work became the most important activity in the company. By far. Were I still on one of those teams, The Long Hedge would unquestionably be within easy reach in my library. -- Victor Lipman, Forbes