Towards a standardized tool for improving the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in Moroccan private companies

Abstract

Climate change (CC) represents new and unprecedented challenges for businesses and is now viewed as a new business imperative. Unlike large multinationals, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to climatic hazards, and often lack flexibility in the distribution of their risks. To preserve their business and sustainably strengthen their resilience and competitive advantages, SMEs must now systematically integrate adaptation to the impacts of CC in their business strategies and the various links in their value chain. Therefore, it is necessary to provide them with appropriate methodological tools dedicated to the assessment of their vulnerabilities and risks and the development of CC resilience strategies. Using an optimized approach to Moroccan SMEs, this research work provides a sequential flowchart to characterize and prioritize climate risks, identify potential business opportunities, and develop a coherent strategy to adapt to climate change, integrated with the Greenhouse Gas mitigation process. The development of this flowchart was guided by the results of the evaluation of the implementation of the Climate Expert tool to help analyze climate risks and opportunities- with several Moroccan companies and the benchmark of the instruments for screening and evaluating climate risks relevant to the Moroccan business context. Consequently, three main areas of impact have been identified, covering the company's core operations, the value chain and the external environment. Later, this flowchart will serve as the basis for developing an online tool for managers to assess vulnerability to climate risks at the scale of their companies and to identify and prioritize adaptation measures.