You don’t need to look for receding glaciers or pore over the latest IPCC report to know that climate change is already happening. Just talk to Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.
Captains of industry want to know what’s up ahead.
Photo: iStockphoto
The company relies on ice bridges to move equipment and materials through the northern regions of Canada. Last winter, however, the ice never thickened enough to allow transport of its heaviest trucks, so Diavik had to pay the additional cost of shipping materials by helicopter.
While a dwindling number of business associations and lobbyists still dispute the science of climate change, an increasing number of businesses themselves are focusing on the undeniable economics of the problem. Diavik is just one of many companies already being forced to adapt to climate change, often at considerable cost — and those costs are forecast to keep on rising. Sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, health care, insurance, real estate, and tourism are particularly vulnerable. In a twist of irony, so is offshore energy infrastructure, such as oil rigs and pipe... Read more
