This document discusses the role of the private sector in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. It outlines potential actions the private sector can take within their own firms, with surrounding communities, and with the global community. Some of these actions include supporting global disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation efforts, improving risk-informed business strategies, raising awareness, and developing new products and services related to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. However, the document also notes there are some barriers to private sector involvement, such as a lack of reliable climate risk information, limited awareness from clients, competition concerns, and uncertainty surrounding new climate-related products and services.

1. Philanthropic, …
CSR, PPPs, …
Core business, …
Minimise Risk
Leverage Opportunities
For & with
global
community
For & with
surrounding
communities
Within
the firm
• Support global DRR and CCA efforts
• Participate in platforms and PPPs
• Improve information and knowledge systems
• Develop risk informed business strategy for DRR
and CCA
• Promote climate change mitigation
• Play part in DRR and CCA efforts such as local
and national emergency planning and response,
infrastructure planning, logistics contingency
planning, social protection actions
• Raise awareness and offer consulting
• Promote climate change mitigation
• Redesign and invest to minimise vulnerability
• Redesign and invest for resilience
• Advance emergency preparedness
• Balance supply chains & plan for contingencies
• Capacity building
• Disaster risk informed business strategy
• Promote climate change mitigation
For & with
global
community
For & with
surrounding
communities
Within
the firm
• Design new CCA and DRR products and
services
• DRR and CCA informed business strategy
• Identify new growth/revenue within existing
market
• Enter new markets for products and services
• Risk informed business investment strategy
• Identify new growth/revenue associated with
CCA and DRR within existing market
• Enter new markets for products and services
• Risk informed business investment strategy
Private Sector
Civil Society
Public Sector
Structural
• Risk governance
is emerging yet
decision making
procedures still
principally follow
past patterns.
Functional
• Disaster risk
information is
often hidden by
countries and
areas in an effort
to attract
investment and
gain
competiveness.
Social
• Limited
awareness from
clients lowers
the market for
CCA and DRR
products and
services.
Businesses also
feel that CCA is
not a pressing
concern.
Intrinsic
• Limitations due
to competition as
knowledge offers
a competitive
advantage.
Cognitive
• Development of
new products
intended for
CCA and DRR
generates
unknown risks.
M.Dandoulaki1, Th.Karymbalis2, Y. Melissourgos2, S.Skordili2, N.Valkanou2
The Private Sector
1 National School of Public Administration and Local Government, Greece (mdand@tee.gr)
2Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, Greece (karymbalis@hua.gr, yormel@gmail.gr, skordili@hua.gr, elnel@otenet.gr)
The stakeholders and their relative position Business Potential Actions for DRR and CCA
Barriers in Knowledge production and sharing
Harokopio University of Athens
Insufficient reliable
information on
manifestation of CC
risks (in time and
space scales
relevant to
business).
In many markets the
subject of climate
change itself
remains debatable.
Some businesses
already compete in
developing CCA
and DRR products
and services.
Sharing knowledge
or patents devalues
their investments.
The role of private sector
Participatory tools
for the identification
and appraisal of
new risks and for
handling uncertainty
are to be developed
and mainstreamed.
PPPs
Social
enterprises
Scientists
Media
Uncertainty can be
a side-effect of CCA
and mitigation. E.g.
biofuels oriented
agri-production
triggered food crisis
and environmental
new problems.
Moving from perceiving disaster risk as an exogenous thread
towards making business decisions that mitigate the levels of risk