2026 has seen multiple heatwaves in Europe, wildfires in France, Spain and Canada, extreme rainfall in West Africa and severe flooding in China. It's affecting people, infrastructure and nature, and it's a reminder that extreme weather is fast becoming the norm rather than the exception.
It also creates a new challenge for small and medium-sized businesses: when everything from the availability of supplies to working conditions is affected, how can a company maintain business as usual and build resilience for the future whilst staying profitable? In this article we look at the simple principles a company can follow and some of the key actions that any company, irrespective of sector and size, can take.
Building resilience, lowering risk
Most climate work falls into two buckets: cutting emissions to limit future change (often called mitigation) and preparing for the changes already under way (adaptation).
For a business, adaptation starts with understanding climate risks. These come in two forms:
- Physical risks: extreme weather and long-term shifts that can affect premises, people and suppliers. Think floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves.
- Transition risks: changes from the shift to a low-carbon economy, such as new regulations, carbon pricing and changing customer expectations.
Guiding principles
The key is to look at where a business is exposed, plan for the risks that matter most, and have practical measures ready for when extreme weather arrives. Here are three guiding principles to help:
- Assess before acting. Which locations, suppliers or activities could be affected by floods, heatwaves or storms? What would a disruption cost? This doesn't need to be complicated.
- Plan for the risks that matter most. No business can prepare for everything, so the focus should be on the risks that would hit hardest. For each one, agree in advance who does what, what the warning signs are, and what backup arrangements to rely on. A plan written calmly beats decisions made mid-crisis.
- Respond. When extreme weather arrives, a prepared business protects its people first, then its premises and operations. Afterwards, capture what happened and what could be done differently.
Actions to take
Here are some specific actions to take using those principles.
Assess
- Perform a physical climate risk analysis - Work out which of your locations are most at risk from hazards such as floods, droughts and extreme heat, so you know where to focus your resilience efforts.
- Assess and diversify supply chain climate risk - Review how exposed your key suppliers are to climate disruption, then reduce that exposure through supplier conversations, flexible contracts and alternative sources.
Plan
- Develop plans for extreme weather events - Create simple response plans for the weather events most likely to affect you, covering warning signs, who does what, and how to keep serving customers during disruption.
- Develop a business continuity plan for climate disruption - Look beyond the weather itself to the knock-on effects: power cuts, transport disruption and suppliers failing to deliver. A tested plan means faster recovery and less lost revenue.
Respond
- Manage heat risk - Put a short heatwave plan in place so everyone knows what happens when temperatures rise, from flexible hours to identifying cool areas on site.
- Improve building and infrastructure resilience - Strengthen premises against flooding, overheating and storms. Start with quick wins like raising critical equipment, and build resilience into any refurbishment.
You can add any of these actions, and find more, as part of any free Climate Action Plan available on Giki Actions.