More than half of businesses have lost profit from extreme weather: survey

The vast majority of KPMG-surveyed executives in Canada are worried about the impacts extreme weather will have on their businesses.

A new survey of business leaders finds the vast majority are concerned that climate change will hit their operations this year while more than half report that it’s already affected profits.

The survey of 350 business owners and executives by KPMG in Canada found 92 per cent fear their company will feel the impacts of extreme weather, including 67 per cent being either extremely or very concerned.

“This has obviously become very real world for Canadian businesses,” said Roopa Davé, KPMG’s Canadian climate risk leader.

The survey released Wednesday found 56 per cent had seen profits affected last year by extreme weather events made more likely by climate change, whether it was forest fires, flooding or extreme heat.

Around half said operations were directly affected, with similar numbers reporting worker productivity and supply chains being disrupted.

The survey, conducted in June, found 88 per cent of companies were willing to make more investments to support climate-related goals, but also 80 per cent said their firm lacks the resources to make emissions reductions a top priority.

Davé said companies are starting to treat climate risks like other enterprise risks, but that most are just starting to grapple with the implications.

“Most companies are at that early front-end stage of identification and assessment,” she said.