The report, titled ‘Tackling the other half of the climate challenge: Adaptation’, draws on the findings of the Institute’s recent Sustainability Survey, which looked at workplace and facilities management industry’s approach to climate change.
Although the report reveals some ‘undeniably stark facts’ regarding the challenges facing our industry, there is also a focus on the positive steps taken so far – 42% of organisations are now assessing climate-related risks and mitigations, and the report said there is a growing understanding of the need to do more.
However, the report found that many organisations may be getting their climate-related risks and assessments fundamentally wrong.
On average, only 14% of respondents were assessing the highest risks for their region, and, of those who were assessing them just under two in three respondents weren’t considering the highest risks to be severe or very severe.
The report offers guidance on the work that facilities teams can lead on, both in terms of assessing the risk and planning for practical measures to mitigate against climate-related issues. It discusses what needs to happen for workplace and facilities teams and service providers to collaborate to drive sustainability throughout the supply chain.
It concludes with a set of recommendations for key stakeholders to adopt if facilities teams are to continue leading the way on sustainability.
Introducing the report, IWFM’s CEO, Linda Hausmanis, said: “There is a clear positive shift in terms of workplace and facilities managers’ involvement in organisations’ climate-related planning, as well as in the understanding of more challenging areas such as Scope 3 and value chain emissions…Crucially, the findings also show that the debate has now evolved to include climate adaptation as a key consideration. We are beginning to see some encouraging early progress on topics such as the assessment of climate-related risks and the potential impact on building stock.”