Climate change is currently the single biggest threat to large businesses in the global financial markets. Financial markets will adjust in the 21st century as leading investment firms and managers around the globe begin to assess how resilient a business will be in the future. Businesses will be assessed on their ‘carbon footprint‘ and in particular their use of resources such as water. Water scarcity for countries such as China, Australia & Chile will be the most affected. These countries are where intensive mining occurs and those businesses are water intensive. Many of these companies and are not in action around consumption, preservation or recycling through de-salivation plants. The CDP found that industries that engaged in climate change and took action related to a higher performance such as return on equity, cash flow stability and dividend growth.
