CLASS ACTIVITY

NAME: FAIZAN MOAZZAM

SAP ID: 70071190

SECTION: “A”

SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

DATE April 23, 2020

SUBMITTED TO: Ma’am Dr. Sonia Munir

 QUESTION NO.1

Business opportunities from companies in your country for Climate change.

There are multiple impacts of climate change on companies. On the one hand, it creates a series
of new business risks. Besides the most obvious physical risks (for example, the operational
impacts of extreme weather events, or supply shortages caused by water scarcity), companies are
exposed to transition risks which arise from society’s response to climate change, such as
changes in technologies, markets and regulation that can increase business costs, undermine the
viability of existing products or services, or affect asset values.8 Another climate-related risk for
companies is the potential liability for emitting greenhouse gases (GHG). An increasing number
of legal cases have been brought directly against fossil fuel companies and utilities in recent
years, holding them accountable for the damaging effects of climate change.9

But climate change also offers business opportunities. Firstly, companies can aim to improve
their resource productivity (for example by increasing energy efficiency), thereby reducing their
costs. Secondly, climate change can spur innovation, inspiring new products and services which
are less carbon intensive or which enable carbon reduction by others. Thirdly, companies can
enhance the resilience of their supply chains, for example by reducing reliance on price-volatile
fossil fuels by shifting towards renewable energy. Together, these actions can foster
competitiveness and unlock new market opportunities.

Example:

WWF-PAKISTAN:

WWF-Pakistan is one of the largest conservation organizations in Pakistan, working proactively

against climate change and environmental degradation in the country. One major aspect of
protecting the nation’s environment is curbing pollution, especially of non-biodegradable
materials like plastic.
Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management

Transforming agriculture in the Indus Basin by increasing resilience among the most vulnerable
farmers and strengthening government capacity to support communities to adapt.

Pakistan’s vulnerability is linked to its arid to semi-arid climate, as well as its high dependency
on a single river system along with snow and glacial meltwater to provide its agricultural water
supply.

This project will develop the country’s capacity to use the information it needs to adapt to the
impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place state-of-the
art technology. It will build farmers’ climate resilience through skills, knowledge and technology
enhancement activities. It will also create a wider enabling environment for continuous
adaptation.

This project has an estimated lifespan of 20 years.

QUESTION NO.2

Adaptation measures a business firm has to take to combat Climate change.

Firms and industries will have a central role in supporting societal adaptation to the physical
impacts of climate change, especially in more directly affected sectors such as agriculture,
forestry, construction, or transportation. However, the business and management field has
repeatedly been criticized for its lack of engagement with climate change as a pressing issue, and
adaptation to the physical impacts of climate change in particular. Our review of adaptation
studies in the business and management field suggests that most firm and industry adaptation
studies focus on how firms adjust to changing business conditions because of the emergence of
new competitors, new products, and markets or because of changed political, economic, and
legal conditions; they largely exclude firm adjustments to the changing dynamics of the natural
environment. Studies on firm and industry adaptation to climate impacts specifically are
beginning to emerge, but they are sparse. There is still little cross-disciplinary work integrating
findings from the natural sciences into business thinking. We also find few considerations of the
implications and consequences of climate change for firms and industries to date.
The future success of the private sector may not only depend on how successfully it can mitigate,
but also on how it can adapt to climate change. Extreme weather events are already causing
havoc to operations, supply chains and commerce all over the world.Yet climate risk continues to
be ignored by most businesses. Investment is not flowing to where it is needed most to build
more resilient economies in response to global warming. It no longer makes sense for companies
to think about climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation as separate line items.
The private sector needs an integrated strategy to confront climate disruption - business leaders
would make better decisions by considering both sides of the equation together.
Investing in resilience takes many forms. Agricultural and industrial companies need to ensure
their supply chains as well as their own operations can withstand the disruption of extreme
weather events. Meanwhile banks strengthen their portfolios when they help finance climate-
ready infrastructure, and insurers protect themselves against crippling weather-related claims
when they market insurance products with built-in incentives for adopting greater climate
resilience.

Example:

COCA COLA PAKISTAN:

Driving sustainable business growth is at the heart of Coca-Cola, and supporting local
communities through its initiatves is another bet the Coca-Cola is thriving to win. In light of the
ongoing sustainability initiatives, Coca-Cola Pakistan as part of 'Clean & Green Pakistan' - a
campaign of the Government of Pakistan - collected approximatley 100 kgs of trash from
Mushkpuri peak, which is a 2,800-metre-high (9,200 ft) mountain in the Nathia Gali Hills, 90
kilometers (56 mi) north of Islamabad, the capital city. Local residents and tourists highly
appreciated this team effort and appraised Coca-Cola’s sustainable environment vision.
In a sign of accelerating climate finance flows, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has signed
an agreement to implement a project by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) to enhance the climate resilience of farmers in Pakistan’s Indus Basin.

GCF signed the Funded Activity Agreement (FAA) to transfer USD 35 million to the FAO
project yesterday, less than 24 hours after it was approved by the GCF Board.

The signing represents the fastest progression from project funding approval to a funding
implementation agreement during GCF’s four years of operation.

GCF Executive Director Yannick Glemarec said the rapid pace of climate finance agreement
shows the importance of GCF working closely with its partners to set out clear paths of climate
action.

“In this case, early and close cooperation between GCF and FAO has allowed us to move rapidly
from project approval to work out the details of how it will be implemented,” said Mr Glemarec.
“This well-planned collaboration allows GCF to accelerate the release of the funds to help the
climate resilience of poor, small scale farmers across eight vulnerable districts in the Punjab and
Sindh provinces of Pakistan,” he added.

Climate effects such as extended droughts and floods in the Indus River Basin threaten to
jeopardise Pakistan’s food security as the region produces more than 90 percent of the country’s
agriculture.

Welcoming GCF’s decision, Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and
Natural Resources said: “We are at a critical moment that calls for bold climate action that can
stimulate concrete solutions to help build resilience. The approval of this project – the first FAO-
led GCF project in Asia - is an important step forward in FAO’s broader support to countries to
respond to climate change, in partnership with the GCF.”

Mina Dowlatchahi, FAO Representative in Pakistan, highlighted the crucial role of this project
for climate adaptation in Pakistan. “This new FAO project, thanks to support from the Green
Climate Fund and the Government, will help shift Pakistan and its Indus Basin agriculture from a
current situation of high vulnerability toward an alternative paradigm wherein better information,
water management and farming practices will significantly increase resilience to climate
change,” Ms Dowlatchahi said.

Malik Amin Aslam, who advises Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on climate change
issues, said: “Pakistan remains at the forefront of climate impacts. This project for climate
resilient agriculture is a welcome initiative. It will allow Pakistan’s vulnerable agriculture sector
to prepare for the impacts of climate change in various districts of Pakistan.”

The project will be the first to establish cutting-edge information systems to carry out the
accurate measurement, monitoring, and modelling of hydrological processes in the Indus Basin.
This will integrate climate resilience considerations into agriculture and water planning and
policies.

This is the third GCF project approved in Pakistan, and the third project to be approved with
implementing partner FAO.

The GCF Board meeting concluded its 23rd meeting yesterday at GCF headquarters in Songdo,
Republic of Korea. It approved 10 climate finance projects worth USD 267 million.