Embrace the sustainability opportunity

Businesses must push past the emotion around climate change and accept the risks of climate change, on expert says - and begin to proactively assess the opportunities.

Dr Paul Fisher is a Fellow at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership and representative at the European Commission’s High-level Experts Group on Sustainable Finance.

Speaking to ANZ’s bluenotes on podcast, he says the key message he shares with business on sustainability issues is to “just forget about the politics.” You can listen to the podcast below.

_______________________________________

“Focus on this as a business risk and a business opportunity because this is where people will make money or lose money over the next 20 to 30 years.”
Dr Paul Fisher

_______________________________________

“Forget about the emotion and whether this is a socially useful thing or not,” Dr Fisher says. “Focus on this as a business risk and a business opportunity because this is where people will make money or lose money over the next 20 to 30 years.”

There is both interest and confusion from companies when it comes to the sustainability opportunity, he says.

“We'll get 80 per cent to 90 per cent of what we need in terms of climate change if people just see this as a standard business issue like all of the others,” he says. “That applies to investors like the super funds all the way through to real-economy companies.”

Paul Orton is Head - Project & Export Finance, Institutional Banking at ANZ.

This story is an edited version of a piece which appeared on bluenotes.

You can read more about managing risk & exposure for your business HERE.