Adaptation or Mitigation?

That’s the multi billion dollar question investors and corporates are asking themselves when they’re looking to mitigate climate risk in their portfolios and business models.

Startups are going to play a key role in helping to map asset vulnerability to climate change and the impact of global warming.

Scientists from the likes of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been warning us that the world is heading for 2.5C to 3C of warming by the end of the century, provoking questions about the scale and magnitude of the risk that a changing climate will have on investible assets worldwide.

Floods, wildfires, heatwaves and droughts are becoming increasingly common as climate change continues to wreak havoc on our global environment.

SMEs and large corporates are being asked by investors and governments to disclose if and how their assets are at risk to climate change.

The U.K. government became the first G20 nation to enact policy to require companies with >500 employees and >£500m in revenue to disclose their assets’ vulnerability to climate change.

As more G20 countries begin to implement this regulatory policy framework, startups that help companies understand their climate risks will benefit massively.

One of Vala Capital’s portfolio companies, Sust Global, helps customers assess their climate risk by using a geospatial approach to transform climate models.

Sust Global combine forward looking global climate models with historic & near real-time data from satellites and ground sensors to improve clients’ understanding of their climate risk exposure.

Whilst major nations commit to a net-zero future, we need to view climate change in terms of adaptation of existing assets’ risk exposure alongside a focus on technologies to mitigate climate change.