In the face of escalating extreme weather events, business adaptation becomes a strategic imperative.
As extreme weather events—hurricanes, floods, and droughts—accelerate, businesses can no longer rely solely on decarbonization strategies. Adaptation has become a strategic imperative to ensure their long-term survival and competitiveness. This is the warning issued by the report “Adaptation & resilience of companies in the face of climate change”, published in March 2025 by BCG and Quantis. Based on insights from 30 leaders of major French companies, the report provides a concrete roadmap for embedding adaptation at the core of business models.
Climate adaptation: a strategic imperative
Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is already impacting companies through major disruptions: infrastructure damage, supply chain breakdowns, rising insurance costs, and evolving regulations. According to the report, in a +2°C warming scenario by 2050, some industries could see up to 25% of their EBITDA threatened by the physical impacts of climate change.
Despite this reality, adaptation remains marginal in most corporate strategies. While the number of companies measuring their climate risks quadrupled between 2020 and 2023, fewer than 20% assess these risks across their entire value chain. And nearly 75% invest less than 0.1% of their revenue in adaptation measures.
Assessing risks
The first step toward an effective adaptation strategy is recognizing the risks. This means identifying and quantifying climate threats specific to the business: vulnerability of production sites, exposure of suppliers, dependence on climate-sensitive resources.
This assessment must be systemic, covering the entire value chain. For example, an agrifood company should anticipate climate change impacts on its crops, suppliers, storage infrastructure, and transportation networks.
But awareness shouldn’t stop at risks. Climate change also creates new opportunities: developing resilient products, offering adaptation services to customers, or innovating business models. Companies that turn these challenges into growth drivers will gain a competitive edge.
Putting the organization in motion
Once risks are identified, companies must integrate adaptation into their operating models. This involves concrete actions such as:
- Strengthening infrastructure: upgrading sites to withstand extreme weather events.
- Diversifying supply sources: reducing dependence on vulnerable regions or suppliers.
- Revising insurance policies: adjusting coverage to reflect new risks.
- Training teams: raising awareness and building skills around climate challenges.
Adaptation must also be embedded in strategic decision-making. This includes factoring the cost of inaction into profitability analyses, developing climate scenarios to guide investments, and establishing governance structures focused on resilience.
Engaging the Ecosystem
Adaptation cannot be a solitary effort. It requires close collaboration across the ecosystem: suppliers, customers, local authorities, and financial stakeholders.
For instance, a company might work with suppliers to improve their resilience, share climate data with partners, or co-develop adaptation solutions with innovative startups.
Financial players also have a key role. By integrating climate risk into their assessments, they can direct capital flows toward resilient businesses. Likewise, insurers can incentivize adaptation by adjusting premiums based on actions taken by companies.
Avoiding maladaptation
Not all adaptation actions are beneficial. Some can have adverse effects by increasing long-term vulnerability or creating new inequalities—a phenomenon known as maladaptation.
For example, building dikes to protect an industrial site might shift the risk to nearby areas or encourage development in hazardous zones. Likewise, expensive technological solutions could exclude small businesses or vulnerable communities.
To avoid these pitfalls, adaptation must be designed systemically, taking social, economic, and environmental dimensions into account. It must also be flexible, able to adjust to changes in climate and evolving scientific knowledge.
An opportunity for pioneering companies
Rather than a constraint, adaptation can become a source of differentiation for early movers. By anticipating risks, they can lower costs, secure supply chains, strengthen brand reputation, and tap into new markets.
For example, a company developing products suited to future climate conditions can meet emerging customer needs. Similarly, a business that supports its suppliers in their transition can enhance the resilience of its value chain.
Adaptation can also yield co-benefits for decarbonization. For instance, improving energy efficiency to make a facility more resilient may also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Toward an integrated adaptation strategy
To integrate adaptation into their strategies, companies can follow a multi-step approach:
- Climate risk assessment: analyze internal and external vulnerabilities.
- Opportunity identification: detect value creation levers linked to adaptation.
- Roadmap development: prioritize short-, medium-, and long-term actions.
- Stakeholder engagement: involve internal teams and external partners.
- Monitoring and adjustment: implement performance indicators and regularly revise the strategy.
This approach requires strong leadership commitment, adequate resource allocation, and a company culture geared toward innovation and resilience.
Faced with the climate emergency, acknowledging the risks is no longer enough — we must act. This is why, in collaboration with BCG, we have launched a Do Tank to promote the development of solutions and actions that support new models and a structural transformation of behaviors. By bringing together key stakeholders around shared challenges, we aim to create an environment that fosters collective intelligence and meaningful action. Our ambition is clear: to build resilient and sustainable models together, capable of meeting the challenges of tomorrow.
