Smart Guide

Adapting to Climate Changeusing your Business Continuity
Management SystemAdapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Contents
Chapter 1.0 Introduction

3

Chapter 6.0 Understanding the Key Issues

17

Chapter 2.0 About this Guide

4

Task 7: Review and amend yourBusiness Impact Analyses

17

PurposeScope
Why Business Continuity Management?
What’s special about climate change?
How to use

4
4
4
6
7

Task 8: Climate risk assessment

18

Chapter 7.0 Preparing for Climate Change

21

Task 9: Identify adaptation options

21

Task 10: Review and amend BC strategy

23

Task 11: S elect and implement
preferred adaptation options

23

Chapter 8.0 Performance Evaluation

26

Task 12: Monitoring, measurement,
analysis and evaluation

26

Task 13: Management review

26

Chapter 3.0 Terms and Definitions

8

Chapter 4.0 Reviewing the Context
of the Organization

9

Task 1: Define key external and internal
factors relating to the climate

9

Task 2: Identify any new interested parties
and requirements

12

Task 3: Review and amend the scope ofyour BCMS

13

Chapter 5.0 Developing Leadership

14

Task 4: Make the case to top management

14

Task 5: Review and amend your BC policy

16

Task 6: Define any new roles, responsibilities
and authorities

16

2

Appendix A
Template for planning adaptation processes

27

Appendix B
Template for cataloguing past weather events

28

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 1.0

1.0 Introduction
Many business activities and the resources that support
them depend on aspects of the weather or climate and canbe disrupted by severe weather and its impacts. A survey
by the Chartered Management Institute found that 54 %of businesses reported being disrupted by severe weather
in 2012, making it the number one cause of businessdisruption for the fourth year running1. Most recently thewinter of 2013/14 has been reported as the wettest winterin England and Wales since records began2 with heavy rainfall
and storms causing widespread flooding and disruption.
It is not possible to say that climate change alone is causing
the increase in these disruptive events. Other changes are
putting more value at risk, such as increasingly lean andcomplex supply chains and development in vulnerable
locations. However, what is clear is that both the frequencyof severe weather events and the value at risk areincreasing3. This has implications for business continuity(BC) and broader business objectives. For example:•	Increasing frequency of heavy rain and rising sea levels
will contribute to an increasing frequency and severityof flooding causing damage or loss of access to businesspremises and disruption to staff travel, supply chains or
critical infrastructure•	Increasing frequency or severity of drought, puttingpressure on water demand and potentially leading
to higher costs or a lack of availability. Low flows inrivers will also put pressure on the quality of water
discharged under effluent consents.
Organizations need to be prepared for severe weather
regardless of the cause. This can involve making physical,
operational or strategic changes and includes actions
that tackle the likelihood of damage or disruption as wellas those aimed at managing its impacts. It can include
preparing for opportunities as well as threats.
There are several resources freely available to helporganizations adapt to climate change, such as
those listed in the references of this guide and in
the further reading sections of each chapter.
Many of these talk in passing about the need tomainstream this within existing business functions
or management systems. This guide does not seek
to duplicate these resources but is instead aimed at
supporting this mainstreaming, specifically by using
a business continuity management system (BCMS).

•	Rising temperatures can lead to a decline in productivity
through overheating of work places and disruption
or quality issues where processes or products aretemperature sensitive usgrave B and Woodman P (2013) Weathering the Storm: The 2013 Business Continuity Management Survey. Chartered Management Institute.
M
metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/early-winter-stats.
3
Trexler, MC and Kosloff, LH (2013) Adapting to Climate Change (DoShorts). Do Sustainability.
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Chapter 2.0

2.0 About this guidePurposeIt is intended that by carrying out the tasks in this guide,
BC professionals will:•	Understand how climate change is influencing
their risks from severe weather•	Be taking the lead on managing these risks•	Be confident that their BCMS will remain effective
for managing disruptive events into the future•	Be able to make the case for additional resources
to implement BC or adaptation measures•	Be capable of communicating effectively about
the management of risks from severe weather
and the approach to climate change adaptation
both internally and externally.

Scope
This guide is aimed at any type of organization that has
a strong BC culture. It covers adapting to climate change,
which does not include efforts to tackle the causes ofclimate change or adapting to such actions by others(see definition in Chapter 3.0). While BC is used as a starting
point, it offers BC managers a route into a comprehensive
approach to managing climate risks across the organization.
Therefore it covers benefits that may arise from climatechange as well as threats, managing the effects of changing
averages as well as weather events and the effects on
efficiency as well as disruptions. The extent to whichthese issues then sit within the BCMS is up to the user.

Why Business Continuity Management?
There are other standards that may be equally appropriate
for managing climate risks, such as risk management(ISO 31000), environmental management (ISO 14001),
quality management (ISO 9001) and potentially many others.
However, given the different terminology, approaches
and perspectives it was felt that it would be useful fora single guide to focus on a single business function
and associated standard.

4
5

Risk management holds significant potential due to thestrong risk emphasis in the climate change adaptation
discourse. ISO 31000 however, is not a management systemand the process nature of management system standards
lend themselves well to this topic. Moreover, ISO 31000
is about to be revised. Similarly ISO 14001 will undoubtedly
be influential in driving climate change adaptation when
its revisions are complete. There does not need to be one
universal home or starting point for climate change
adaptation and the appropriate choice will vary dependingon the type of business and organizational culture.
However, the benefits of using a BCMS include:•	Disruption due to severe weather is the biggest
climate change adaptation issue facing manyorganizations indicating that BC managers will likely
have an important role•	Business continuity management (BCM) includes methods
for, and experience of, dealing with potential and actual
disruptive events as well as a remit to access and relate
to all areas of the business. It is therefore well placed tolead on efforts to manage climate risks, which requirecross-cutting action and are often disruptive in nature.
Adapting to climate change is moving up the businessagenda with many commentators beginning to recognize
the importance of BCM. For example, climate change
was identified as one of 14 emerging supply chain risks
by the Supply Chain Risk Leadership Council.
They suggest responding through looking at BC planning
both within your own organizations and with your suppliers.4
A survey carried out by Continuity Forum in 2013 found that
72 % of BC managers felt that it should be their role to takethe lead on managing climate risks5.

 CRLC (2013) Emerging Risks in the Supply Chain 2013. White paper produced by the Supply Chain Risk Leadership Council.
S
Continuity Forum (2013) Climate Adaptation Engagement and Standards. Written by Continuity Forum for Climate Ready at the Environment Agency.

4Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 2.0“Every business continuity
manager has a duty to assess
the risks and to determine
the threats to their organization.
Business continuity is about
the long-term survival of yourorganization and climatechange may be one of thebiggest threats you face.”
David Honour of Continuity Central6“Business continuity, which
is primarily concerned withidentifying, reducing, mitigating
and preparing for the impacts
associated with disruptive eventsin order to reduce risk, minimize
disruption and ensure continued
provision of service criticalactivities, can be used to prepare
for a range of new threats andchallenges, including those
associated with climate change.”
Rebecca Ellis in a paper published in theBusiness Continuity Journal75Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 2.0

What’s special about climate change?
Adapting to climate change presents BC managers with some new challenges, which mean that traditional approaches mayneed to be reviewed. These are presented in Box 1 and referred to throughout this guide.

Box 1
Additional challenges that take adapting to climate change beyond traditional BCMS
1 Some aspects of adapting to climate change sit
		
outside the traditional scope of BCM.
These are:
A As well as causing disruption, weather can also affect		a business in more subtle ways such as reduced
efficiency (in terms of either process or manpower).
B Some sectors are vulnerable to changes in climate
		
averages (e.g. monthly or seasonal rainfall or mean
daily maximum temperature averaged over a season
or month) as well as weather events. Agriculture andthe water supply industry are two such sectors.
See the definition of ‘climate’ given in Chapter 3.0.
C Some companies face significant business		
opportunities as our climate changes. These canarise from being ahead of the game in preparing
for threats but they can also arise from beneficial
effects of weather and climate, such as by accessing
the growing market for adaptation and resilience
to climate change products and services8.

2 Climate change by definition means that threats		(and opportunities) are changing and not static.
Assessment of and reaction to climate risks may
not have kept pace with these changes. In otherwords, the likelihood of severe weather events may
be greater than an assessment based on pastexperience would suggest and things that have nothappened in the past at all could now be possibilities.
A particular concern is around scenarios arisingfrom the combination of different weather events(such as dry periods followed by heavy rain or a
succession of unusually wet seasons), or thoseleading to widespread or prolonged disruption.
3 Climate change is a long term and dynamic
		phenomenon and therefore requires a responsethat takes into account future and changing threats(and opportunities) and how these interact withbusiness timescales. BCM, however, tends to befocussed on short timescales and does not generally
engage with long-term drivers9.

David Honour, Continuity Central continuitycentral.com/feature0198.htm.
E llis, R. (2007) The Rising Tide: Climate Change and Business Continuity. The Business Continuity Journal. Volume 2 issue 1.
8
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (2013) Adaptation and Resilience to (Climate Change) 2011 to 2012.
9
Continuity Forum (2013) Climate Adaptation Engagement and Standards. Written by Continuity Forum for Climate Ready at the Environment Agency.
676Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 2.0
How to use
Adapting to climate change involves a set of processes
which have been described in a number of existing
frameworks and tools. These vary slightly dependingon the intended audience and context but the basic
steps remain the same. This guide describes these steps
in the context of a BCMS as set out in ISO 22301 andISO 22313 using the following breakdown of processes:•	Reviewing the context of the organization•	Developing leadership•	Understanding the key issues•	Preparing for severe weather and climate change•	Evaluating performance.
Within each process sits a number of tasks. These do notneed to be undertaken in order and the effort and detail thatis required will depend on the context of the organization.
Appendix A provides a template, which may be useful forplanning these processes.

Large companies may wish to focus initial activity on a single
site, division, project, or business area (e.g. by matching thescope to that of an exiting BCMS) in order to keep the work
manageable and the time cost low while learning about
the subject.
This guide is designed to be standalone document.
However, in order to facilitate the integration of climate risk
management into a BCMS, reference is made to the current
BC standards ISO 22301 and ISO 22313. These represent bestpractice, with ISO 22301 specifying the requirements while
ISO 22313 provides supporting guidance. The structure ofthese standards is used in this guide with each section linked
to the appropriate clause to aid cross reference.
References that support the text are provided in footnotes,
however, those that may be useful as further reading arelisted at the end of each chapter.

7

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 3.0

3.0 Terms and Definitions
Adapting to Climate Change

ClimateMaking changes in response to the expected effects
of climate change in order to minimize the threats or
exploit opportunities.

A construct of the long-term averages (usually averaged
over 30 years) of weather variables, such as temperatureand precipitation, over a particular location.

NOTE: This does not cover effects arising due to efforts(either internal or external) to tackle the causes of climatechange, such as by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or
improving energy efficiency. In climate policy this istermed ‘mitigation’. This definition is inconsistent withthat commonly used in risk management when it iscommon to talk about mitigating risks.

Climate change

Benefits
Positive effects on an organization of a weather event
caused by climate change.
NOTE: The term ‘impact’ is avoided because in the context
of BCM, business impacts usually refers to the consequencesof a disruption.

8

Changes in climate over time regardless of the cause.

Climate risk
The uncertain effects of weather or climate change
on objectives.
NOTE: This definition was developed for this guide using
the standardized definition of risk as ‘the effect of
uncertainty on objectives’ (ISO 31000).

Threats
Negative effects on an organization of a weather event
caused by climate change.

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 4.0

4.0 Reviewing the Context
of the Organization
This section describes how to review the context of theorganization in light of the desire to adapt to climate change.
It is divided into three tasks:

Note that there are not currently any legal or regulatory
factors that need to be taken into account although it ispossible that this may change in the future, for example
if a legal temperature limit for workplaces were introduced.

Task 1: Identify climate influenced external and		internal factors.
Task 2: Identify any new interested parties and requirements.
Task 3: Review and amend BCMS scope.

Task 1: Identify climate influenced external and internal factors(Related clause in ISO 22301 and ISO 22313: 4.1 (in particular 4.1b in ISO 22301))
Like other aspects of the natural environment, the climate
provides the conditions upon which businesses depend.
Climate change can therefore be seen as an external factor
that affects the organization either directly or through its
influence on other external factors. Box 2 lists external
factors to consider using the categories described in ISO
22313. Note that the categories ‘relationships with andperceptions of, interested parties outside the organization’and ‘supply chain commitments and relationships’ are also
important, especially where the relationship involves ashared risk, but that these are picked up later under Task 2.

If you have suppliers and customers outside the UK then the
projected climate trends in those regions will need to beconsidered. A list of sources of international information on
climate and related hazards is provided in the further reading
section for this chapter. However, there is no need to go intoa lot of detail for this task and simply flagging it up as afactor may be enough.

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Chapter 4.0

Box 2
Climate influenced external factors

Climate trends:•	Changes to climate averages (in the UK)

10- Hotter summers- Milder wetter winters- Rising sea levels•	Damage/disruption to infrastructure(energy, water and transport)•	Resilience of built environment e.g. flood defences,urban design etc•	Less frequent snow/low temperature events - however,their severity is expected to remain the same•	Changes to price or availability of raw materials•	Climate change in key locations overseas•	Stability and well-being of sourcing community

As well as thinking about your current activities, services,
products and supply chains, you should consider those
involved in any upcoming new initiatives so that you canplan ahead appropriately.
Some resources for exploring the effects of climatechange outside of the UK are contained within thefurther reading section. Remember to consider notjust industrial sites and offices but also staff homes
and key staff travel or logistics routes.
Climate change means the future can no longer be expected
to reflect the past. Nevertheless, exploring how past weather
events have affected you will help you to identify any
sensitive internal factors. This can be done by generating
a simple catalogue of the business impacts of past weather
events. A record of how you responded to these events will
also be helpful when you come to identifying or evaluating

11•	Severe weather events including storms, floods,
droughts, heatwaves, snowstoms etc•	More frequent severe weather (in the UK) events inthe form of heavy rain, droughts and heat waves

Make a note of any internal factors (such as activities,
services, products and supply chains) that involve longplanning horizons, particularly vulnerable locations or a highdegree of sensitivity to weather, climate or indoor temperature.
Box 3 explains this further. Only the first of these criteria are
uniquely relevant to climate change and much of the others
will have already been captured in a well founded BCMS.
However, it is a good idea to check, in order to make surethat you are adequately prepared for severe weather(see point 2 in Box 1).

10

The social, cultural, financial, technological,
economic and natural environment:•	Changes in demand for product or service

potential future adaptation options (Task 9).
A template for this is provided in Appendix B.
The focus should be on events that had significant business
impacts, which may not match up exactly with those definedas ‘severe’ weather. Therefore, it is not advisable to use Met
Office weather data as a starting point. Instead, draw on
company records, employee recollections and the experienceof others in your locality or sector. Near misses can also be
included, for example, where you know that if a disruption
had lasted for a day longer, the consequences would havebeen significant, or where you only just managed to prevent
significant damage. If you have the resources a workshop isa good way of gathering this information as well as starting
the process of internal engagement on this issue11.
Although anecdotal evidence needs to be treated with caution
when being used as part of an assessment, this approach has
shown to be invaluable in generating the kind of depth ofunderstanding required in creating stories that can beinvaluable in engaging others.
Other sources of information on sensitivity include any limits,such as to temperature for industrial equipment or to windspeeds for crane operation. These may be set out withintechnical specifications, operating manuals, contractual
agreements, codes, standards and other similar documents.
New companies will need to rely on these sources and theexperience of others to develop this information.

Jenkins, G. J., Murphy, J. M., Sexton, D. M. H., Lowe, J. A., Jones, P. and Kilsby, C. G. (2009). UK Climate Projections: Briefing report. Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UK.
 ased on Step 2 of the Adaptation Wizard: Climate Ready (2012) The Adaptation Wizard. The Environment Agency.
B

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Chapter 4.0

Box 3
Climate influenced internal factors
Internal factors that are influenced by climate change
are those that:•	Have long planning horizons
Where planning horizons are short, exposure is only tothe current climate whereas if they are long the factor
is exposed to both the current and the future climates.
•	Are in particularly exposed locations or rely onseveral locations
These include: locations that are next to waterways;
on the coast; in low lying areas; unsheltered from storms;
unshaded from the sun; in areas of water scarcity orin urbanised areas; which can often be hotter thansurrounding areas especially at night due to the change
in land use and waste heat generated by energy use.
Some parts of the world are particularly prone toweather disasters while climate change will affectregions differently. Long supply chains are particularly
exposed because they rely on several different locations.

Some materials or processes are temperature sensitivee.g. the waterless printing process.
Others depend on specific elements of the climate,such as agriculture or water intensive manufacturing.
Biological systems can also be sensitive.
This includes people, for example, those who are older
or unwell are particularly sensitive to heat stress and the
difficulties of working outdoors in inclement weather.
Some outdoor activities are hampered by or cannot takeplace in inclement weather in particular those involving
heavy industry, with tight health and safety controls.
• Are dependent on suppliers or raw materials that fulfil
any of the previous three criteria.
Risks are passed through supply chains affecting priceor availability of raw materials or continuity of supply.

•	Are sensitive to or dependant on weather, climate orindoor temperature

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Chapter 4.0

Task 2: Identify any new interested parties and requirements(Related clause in ISO 22301 and ISO 22313: 4.2)
There are several groups and individuals with an interest in
climate change, from whom new requirements may arise.
A checklist based on the categories presented in ISO 22313
is given below.

Staff

Potentially relevant interested parties and their requirements:• Your environment manager or similar may already own
responsibilities on adapting to climate change withassociated actions

Government• The Climate Change Act (2008) includes a mechanism bywhich the government can require organizations to reporton their climate risks and how they are managing them.
This is known as the Adaptation Reporting Powers (ARP).
So far only organizations involved in the delivery of criticalinfrastructure have been asked to report• The Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Support Service
are interested in your activities in order to share learningand improve tools and guidance.

Pressure Groups/investors• If you are committed to submitting a response to the
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), there is a question thatasks you to identify key climate risks and adaptation
measures• There are currently few other mechanisms for investors
but there is scope for this to change in the future• Development NGOs concerned about the communities
supported by your international suppliers• Local flood groups concerned about flood risks thatyou may share with local communities.

• All staff will have a stake in the effects of severe weather
and climate change on their welfare, including how it
affects their homes and travel• Those with operational responsibilities may haveinterests relating to the specific temperature or
weather limits associated with equipment or processes• Your health and safety manager will be interested in
the many ways that internal temperature and inclement
weather interact with workplace health and safety.

Customers• Customers may be interested in managing their supply
chain risks

Trade groups• Many sector bodies have taken a role in supporting theirmembers through weather resilience or adapting toclimate change, such as through commissioning researchor provision of skills or accreditations etc.

Suppliers/neighbours/regulator• Those with whom climate risks are shared e.g. for aregulator this could be in relation to potential pollution
incidents caused by severe weather• Your local Climate Change Partnership will be interested
in your actions and able to connect you with other local
relevant activity.
Remember to include these new interested parties in any
communication activities around your BCMS and to include
relevant aspects of your BCMS in any other communications
with them, such as reporting under the CDP or ARP.

12

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 4.0

Task 3: Review and amend the scope of your BCMS
(Related clause in ISO 22301 and 22313: 4.3)
Review the scope of your BCMS in light of the three points
raised in Box 1 and the output from Task 1 and Task 2.
You may want to amend the scope to make sure that it covers
long-term considerations and non-disruptive threats and benefits.

Long-term considerations
If you have identified areas where there are long planninghorizons you will need to engage with the future climate andclimate change. This will help you to avoid making decisions
that embed vulnerability and to identify where it may be costeffective to implement measures early on in a process (rather
than retrofitting, which is usually more expensive).
It may therefore be necessary for the BC manager to beclosely involved with products, services, locations, functions,processes or activities not previously covered by the BCMS,
such as the design stage of a new building or planning stage ofa new initiative. This in turn may have implications for the scope.
If you do not have long planning horizons in any area of yourbusiness then you need only be concerned with the current
climate and how it may have already changed, therefore
there are no implications for your BCMS scope.

Non-disruptive impacts
Think about how you will take account of the effects ofweather or climate that do not arise through disruption
and are therefore outside the scope of your BCMS.
These include:• Where weather or climate contribute to a reduced orincreased efficiency. The decline in productivity
associated with thermal discomfort during heatwaves
is an example of this• Business opportunities arising from climate change, such
expanding markets or new market opportunities, increased
production efficiencies or new production opportunities.
You don’t need to make everything your job but it isimportant to identify what is to remain outside the scope ofyour BCMS and link to other appropriate business functions
under the banner of adapting to climate change. As well as
your overall risk management strategy, health and safety
arrangements, HR, business planning and strategic planning
may all have relevance.

Further reading for Chapter 4.0
For information about climate change in the UK see
United Kingdom Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09)(ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk).
For information about climate change in Europe see
Climate-Adapt (climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu).

For climate information from around the world see:• Information on observed and projected climate change
and its impacts in 24 countries (metoffice.gov.uk/
climate-change/policy-relevant/obs-projections-impacts)• An assessment of the impacts of climate change overseas
on the UK, International Threats and Opportunities of
Climate Change for the UK, (pwc.co.uk/sustainabilityclimate-change/publications/international-threats-andopportunities-of-climate-change-to-the-uk.jhtml)• Foresight report 2011: International Dimensions of
Climate Change (gov.uk/government/news/reporthighlights-new-challenges-to-the-uk-from-internationalclimate-change--2)• The Global Risk Data platform produced by UNEP (United
Nations Environment Programme) may help in determining
which suppliers are in vulnerable locations:preview.grid.unep.ch/index.php?preview=map&lang=eng• IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Fifth
Assessment Report, Climate Change 2013, The PhysicalScience Basis (ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/)• IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2014,
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability(ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/)• IPCC Special Report, Managing the Risks of Extreme Eventsand Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation(SREX) (ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/).
See Climate UK for the contact details of your local climatechange partnership climateuk.net/
For general information and guidance see:
The UK Government web page on adapting to climate change:
gov.uk/government/policies/adapting-to-climate-change
or contact the Climate Ready support service
climatechange@environment-agency.gov.uk
UKCIP: www.ukcip.org.uk

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Chapter 5.0

5.0 Developing Leadership
As with any new initiative, strong leadership will be
important for the success of your adaptation planning as it
will secure the required commitment and resources fromacross the business. This section outlines three tasks thatwill help put this leadership in place:

Task 4: Make the case to top management
Task 5: Review and amend your BC policy
Task 6: Define any new roles, responsibilities and authorities

Task 4: Make the case to top management(Related clause in ISO 22301 and 22313: 5.2)
Top management need to be committed both to adapting
to climate change (even if you choose not to use thisterminology as suggested in Table 1) and to do so as
part of the BCMS. This task aims to help you make thiscase in support of obtaining this vital commitment.
The information given in Chapters 1.0 and 2.0 may also
be useful here, in particular the section on ‘Why BCM?’.
It is difficult to make a clear business case for adaptation
because of the difficulty in quantifying the costs of futureclimate impacts. However, a case for exploring further andfor embedding within your BCMS can be made in generalterms at an early stage. This should be concise and may
benefit from a light touch version of Tasks 7 and 8. You cando this as a desk based exercise, however, active workshop
approaches can be very useful in drawing out critical climate
dependencies in order to help engage internal stakeholders12.
Table 1 on the following page provides some principles forbuilding a business case for adaptation.

12
13This is taken from a guide produced by the Institute ofEnvironmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and isbased on the experience of environmental and sustainability
practitioners. Some of the actions suggested may not be
possible until leadership has been obtained and morein depth work carried out. These can be revisited as partof Tasks 9-12 and depending on the level of business casethat is required an iterative approach may be appropriate.
Below is a checklist of things that could be included:• Examples of how weather has affected you in the past
and any associated costs• A list of key drivers: external and internal factors and therequirements of interested parties• A brief explanation of how adapting to climate change
goes beyond normal BCMS (Box 1)• Examples of actions taken by others.

IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Climate Change 2013. The Physical Science Basis.
IEMA (2013) Climate Change Adaptation: Building the Business Case. Guidance for Environmental and sustainability practitioners.
For more information the full guide can be downloaded from here: iema.net/readingroom/articles/cca-business-case-guidance.

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Chapter 5.0
Table 1: Building the adaptation business case – principles and learning points (adapted from IEMA’s Guide to Buildinga Business Case for Adaptation13)
Principles

Learning points (from practice)First understand yourbusiness and your context

Understand its purpose, culture and approach to decision making. Know what you are up
against. Map key stakeholders and decision making routes. Evaluate and develop your roleto the business context (e.g. Lead? Inspire? Support? – probably all three at different times).

Engage key internal
stakeholders

Communicate with (and seek advice from) a range of business functions such as finance,
marketing, procurement, logistics and operations. Further develop your understanding of theorganization and internal decision making, business drivers etc. Build awareness and support.
Introduce the business relevance of climate change threats, opportunities and dependencies.

Use businessrelevant language

In discussions either avoid terms like ‘adaptation’ or be careful to consistently translate.
Use business language - profitability, opportunity, cost savings, avoiding disruption, staff welfare,client and customer service, avoiding liabilities, added value, winning business, improving
reputation, insurance savings, changing asset value, and opportunities for future business.

Use direct businessexperience

Draw on recent experience within the business of extreme weather impacts – use to wininterest in early action (this can also help the visualization of future increased risk).
Make sure that you present both the worst case scenario and the most likely outcome.
Avoid the tendency to present just doom and gloom, and ensure that the work is solutions focused.

Consider wider skill needs

Training may be valuable at early stage and can support internal scoping workshops.
External expertise may be needed (e.g. flood risk).

Consider external input

Consider partner opportunities to support (e.g. sector/regional initiatives).
Contribution from external advisors or stakeholders? Advice/requirements from clients?

Use projections andbe transparent (e.g. on
scenarios and uncertainty)

Do use formal climate change projections and remember businesses are used to dealing
with uncertainty and imperfect information. Be transparent on the status of any projections
and information. In addition feel confident to include high emission scenarios if you can justify(i.e. some view high emissions scenarios as more credible given current failure on global
emission targets).

Cost/quantify business
impacts? (sufficient for
decision)

Future climate related business costs are a challenge but some can be estimated- e.g. by assessing impacts of past weather events (£ loss) and projecting forward.
Other factors can be quantified (e.g. reputation may consider positive or negative media
coverage in column inches). However avoid ‘over creative’ accounting. The degree of workrequired for a decision should be considered with a balance of what can and can’t bequantified. Clearly state assumptions and dependencies.

Use existing processes(don’t reinvent wheel)

Look to use other existing business processes where they offer scope for action on climatechange adaptation (e.g. procurement, risk management, environmental management systemand sustainability, annual business planning etc).

Look for win wins
(Trojan horse… piggy back)Wider agendas offer scope for effective action on climate change adaptation. For example,
heating and cooling (staff comfort) requirements in future premises as adaptive considerations
within low carbon design and more energy efficient buildings. Adaptation can contribute toother business considerations underway (e.g. flexible and remote working of key personnel,
or increased resilience as part of wider procurement and sustainable supply chain initiatives).

Opportunities andcomparative advantage

Investigate with colleagues opportunities for increased business (products and services).
Also consider the comparative business advantage from resilience.

Try things out

Do not underestimate the importance of making a start. Trialling solutions on site with willing
colleagues or business partners can be an important first step (demonstrators).

15

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 5.0

Task 5: Review and amend your BC policy(Related clause in ISO 22301: 5.3)
In order to make sure it is clear that the impacts of climatechange are covered by your BCMS you may wish to amend
your BC policy so that it explicitly makes reference to climatechange and/ or new and changing risks. This may or may notrefer to adaptation as a separate activity. Some examples are
given below:• Continue to deliver key business functions, mission, aims
and objectives in the face of a changing climate• Maintain business continuity and build resilience toweather variability now and in the future• Ensure your business is adapting well to climate change, withthe objective of long-term sustainability of the organization• Minimize the threats and maximize the opportunities
from a changing climate while building the adaptive
capacity of your organization, supply chain and wider
stakeholder community• Assess the impacts of climate change; consider climatechange impacts in specific on general practices oroperational policies (such as procurement or projectappraisal); develop organizational resilience; or build
adaptive capacity.
Alternatively, this commitment could be made in yourenvironmental policy and linked to as an internal factor
affecting your BCMS.

Task 6: Define any new roles, responsibilities and authorities(Relevant clause in ISO 22301 and ISO 22313: 5.4)
Since you are adapting to climate change using a BCMS,
the lead role will be assigned to the management
representative for your BCMS or whoever is responsible
for business resilience. However, you may wish to assign
a formal role to someone in an environmental business
function as due to the subject area they may be a usefulsource of additional knowledge or relationships.

Some other new roles and responsibilities may need
to be allocated across a number of different functions.
Use the output of Task 1 to identify key business areas wherecolleagues will need to be engaged. Their role in Tasks 7 and
8 is to input into the analyses drawing on their knowledge
and experience of the business. Following that there may
also be roles related to implementation.

Further reading for Chapter 5.0
IEMA (2013) Climate Change Adaptation: Building the Business Case. Guidance for Environmental and sustainability
practitioners.: iema.net/readingroom/articles/cca-business-case-guidance.

16Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 6.0

6.0 Understanding the Key Issues
Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and risk assessment (RA)form the backbone of BC planning. Climate change
considerations can be factored into these processes,
making sure that the future is recognized as being
different from the current situation, which in turn isdifferent from the past. This may require new sourcesof information and ways of thinking.
There are different views on the relative importanceof BIA and risk assessment within the BC community.
Both processes have features that offer some advantages
over the other in the context of adapting to climatechange as follows:

Advantages of BIA:
• By focussing on the business impact regardless ofthe source, BIA takes away the need to estimate thelikelihood of an event or disruption. This can makeassessments quicker and easier in the absence of robust
information, which is often the case with regards to theeffects of future weather events or climate change• The immediate focus on critical products and services andthe activities and resources that support them also offersa practical way of prioritizing in order to allocate resources
without the need for lengthy assessment processes basedon very incomplete and complex information

Advantages of RA:• Risk assessment offers a more complete picture andtherefore will pick up a wider range of threats and benefits• Similarly, an understanding of risks is more likely to leadto creative thinking around solutions. This may be
important as climate change begins to affect us in ways
we haven’t experienced before.
ISO 22301 specifies the use of both but the relative emphasisand order in which they are undertaken here depends on
your preferred approach and the organizational culture.
However you choose to proceed, keep track of methods
and information used as well as the reasons behind any
decisions made so that these can be monitored andreviewed as appropriate.

Task 7: Review and amend your Business Impact Analyses(Related clause in ISO 22301 and 22313: 8.2.2)
BIA focuses on the business impacts of disruption regardlessof the source of the disruption so that you would expect
impacts from severe weather to already be included.
However, a light touch review may be required to takeaccount of any change in scope and any ways in which thesize of the potential business impact or the way that it plays
out may be affected by climate change.
Referring to your existing BIA (or equivalent), begin byidentifying any business impacts of disruption that involve anyof the climate influenced internal factors identified in Task 1.

Ask yourself if the impact could be greater or play out
differently over time, given this influence. In particularinclude in your analysis how the following would affectthe outputs of your BIA:
• Weather that is more severe or prolonged thanpreviously experienced• A weather event that occurs during the recovery
period of a previous disruption• Weather events that involve widespread disruption
or a combination of different events.

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Chapter 6.0

Task 8: Climate risk assessment(Relevant clause in ISO 22301 and ISO 22313: 8.2.3)
It is now “unequivocal” that the climate system is warmingand “extremely likely” that human activity is the dominantcause of this warming14. However, plenty of uncertainty
remains in terms of the rate and geographical distributionof this change and the effects it will have.
Risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty on objectives(ISO 31000). The concept of risk can be useful when making
decisions in the face of uncertainty and is therefore usefulwhen adapting to climate change. A risk assessment canbe used to identify significant threats or benefits. Normallythis is done by making judgements on their likelihood andthe severity of the impact for explicit objectives. It can also
be used to evaluate a range of adaptation options (Task 9).

The first step is to identify threats and benefits.
A brainstorming or workshop that uses different categories
can help to make sure your list is comprehensive and notbiased by whatever the most recent disruptive experiencehas been. Table 2 shows some examples using the categoriesof ‘business areas’ from the Business Areas Climate Impacts
Assessment Tool (BACLIAT)15, however there may be othercategories that make more sense for your organization.
For example you may wish to use the resources that are
required to support your critical activities as categories inorder to give the assessment a clear link to your BCMS.
Draw on past experience but also think about things that
could happen that you have not already experienced using
your list of key external and internal factors identified in Task 1.

ISO 22301 requires that a risk assessment is conducted forprioritized activities. Carrying out this task will make surethat climate related threats and benefits to these activities
are taken into account within your risk assessment.
14

IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Climate Change (2013), The Physical Science Basis.

15

Climate Ready (2012) The Business Areas Climate Impacts Assessment Tool (BACLIAT), The Environment Agency.

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Chapter 6.0
Table 2: Examples of business impacts broken down by BACLIAT headings
Business area

Threats

Benefits

Markets

Decline in demand for cold weather related
goods and services.
Lower footfall in high street shops during
inclement weather.

Increase in demand for goods or services
or new market opportunities e.g.
• Tourism activities• Summer food and drink• Flood defence technologies

Logistics

Disruption to supply chains, utilities or transportarrangements due to flooding, rain, heatwave
or drought.

Fewer cold/ snow related disruptions.

Premises

Impacts on building fabric and structure and the
comfort conditions of the internal environment.

Easier and cheaper to keep buildings
warm in the winter.

PeopleNegative effects on health and comfort of staff
and customers e.g.
• Thermal discomfort• Heat stress• Increased risk of warm weather related pests
and diseases• Psychological effects of flooding

Positive effects on health and comfort
of staff and customers:
Fewer cold related illnesses.

Process

Impacts on temperature or weather dependent
processes or activities e.g.
• Health and safety stoppages due to weather• Breakdown of temperature sensitive equipment• Lack of availability of water for industrial processes

Increases in productivity or new processes
becoming economically viable e.g.
• Fewer construction delays due tocold weather• New agricultural crops or varieties areable to grow

Finance

Increase in price or availability of insurance due
to climate risks.
Investors concerned about climate risks.

Resilience or good management of climate
risks attracts investment.

For the threats and benefits identified, carry out a risk
assessment in the same way as you would for other typesof risk. However, because by its very nature climate changepresents changing risks, the following two considerations
should be added to your methodology:• Understand the timescales of relevant decisions• Use information about the future rather than the past.

As you assess the risk of each threat or benefit, think
about how far into the climate future it is necessary to look.
This will depend on the lifetime of decisions associatedwith it. For example, when assessing threats or benefits
associated with large-scale fixed assets or long term
contracts assess their likelihood by thinking about what theclimate will be like at the end of its life. In addition, rememberthat the climate is not the only thing that is changing so also
consider changes to other external or internal factors, suchas changes in locations or technologies.

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Chapter 6.0

Further reading for Chapter 6.0
For further help with identifying threats and benefits
and assessing climate risk see ‘Assessing and Managing
Climate Change Risks in Supply Chains’ available fromacclimatise.uk.com/resources?resource=202.
For information about climate change in the UK see
United Kingdom Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09)(ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk).
For information about climate change in Europe see
Climate-Adapt (climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu).
For climate information from around the world see:• Information on observed and projected climate change andits impacts in 24 countries (metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/policy-relevant/obs-projections-impacts)• An assessment of the impacts of climate change overseas
on the UK, International Threats and Opportunities of
Climate Change for the UK (pwc.co.uk/sustainabilityclimate-change/publications/international-threats-andopportunities-of-climate-change-to-the-uk.jhtml)

20• Foresight report 2011: International Dimensions of Climate
Change (gov.uk/government/news/report-highlights-newchallenges-to-the-uk-from-international-climate-change--2)• The Global Risk Data platform produced by UNEP may help
in determining which suppliers are in vulnerable locations:preview.grid.unep.ch/index.php?preview=map&lang=eng• IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2013,
The Physical Science Basis (ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/)• IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2014,
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability(ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/)• IPCC Special Report, Managing the Risks of Extreme
Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change
Adaptation (SREX) (ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/).

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 7.0

7.0 Preparing for Climate ChangeThis process involves identifying actions to address climate
risks and implementing these through your BC plans andprocedures or within other business functions whereappropriate. It is divided into the following tasks:

Keep track of methods and information used as well as thereasons behind any decisions made so that these can bemonitored and reviewed as appropriate.

Task 9: Identify adaptation options
Task 10: Review and amend BC strategy
Task 11: Select and implement preferred adaptation options

Task 9: Identify adaptation options(Relevant clause in ISO 22301: 6.1)
Referring to the risks identified in Task 8, brainstorm or
identify in a workshop ‘adaptation options’. You may also
wish to draw on the experience from other countries ororganizations in your locality or sector e.g. alternative
materials, technologies or processes etc. that may alreadyexist. Adaptation options can range from large-scale
infrastructure projects to simple low-tech solutions. They
include measures to reduce (or increase) the likelihood of thethreat or benefit occurring as well as BC plans aimed atshortening the period of disruption or to limiting its impact.

You should also consider how you can manage risks throughyour supply chain by either influencing or mandating
suppliers to take actions to manage their own climate risks
or collaborating with them on shared risks.
Box 4 illustrates this using a hypothetical example.
The categories in Table 3 may be useful in brainstorming
a range of options.

21
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Chapter 7.0

Box 4
Adaptation options for a hypothetical printworks16

BackgroundA small printing company produces corporate literature
for a range of business customers. Each job has atimetable built into the contract, and the company’s
reputation depends on delivering a good service on time.
Paper is delivered daily from a paper mill, which is on highground, and there is very little storage on the site of theprintworks. The city is prone to flooding, which meansthat as the climate changes there is an increasing risk ofbusiness disruption due to localized flooding causing
traffic problems and delays to deliveries. The business
impacts of this are as follows:• Paper deliveries are disrupted by flooding in areas of
the city, meaning that the company is unable to deliver
the finished product to customers on time, leading toloss of reputation and declining customer loyalty.

Table 3: Adaptation options for printworks example
Type ofadaptation option
Reduce thelikelihood ofa disruption

Further breakdown

Specific measure

Changing input, process or supplierUse thinner paper so that more can be stored on site

Strategic solution

Outsource all printing operations
Switch to specialist printing so that less input is required

Shorten the periodof the disruption

Relocation

Move production to the same industrial estate as
the paper millUse of technology

Encourage the supplier to install live tracking of its vehicle
fleet in order to help avoid areas of localized flooding andtraffic disruption

Improve physical infrastructure

Build new storage facility on site

Operational arrangements

Employ a subcontractor so that production can switch
location to its premises at times of extreme weather
Develop an agreement with other similar businesses nearby
to pool paper resources at times of extreme weather

Limit the impactof the disruption

16

Managerial arrangements

Make arrangements for overtime and double shifts to makeup for lost production time following an event

Use of technology

Monitor flood warnings so that you know early if there will
be delays

Managerial arrangements

Stay in close contact with customers and suppliers so that
customers know early on if their job will be delayed
Build extra time into contracts
Take out BC insuranceAdapted from Box 4.1 and Table 4.1 in Johnstone K and Moczarski A (2010).
Climate Change Adaptation: Adapting to climate risks using ISO 9001,
ISO 14001, BS 25999 and BS 31100.

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Chapter 7.0

Task 10: Review and amend BC strategy(Relevant clauses in ISO 22301: 8.3)
Review your BC strategy in light of changes you have madeto your policy (Task 5) and any new requirements you haveidentified (Task 2) and amend as necessary.
One thing to consider is that the main impact of climatechange may arise from the increasing frequency of
disruption. Therefore consider defining a ‘maximum tolerable
frequency of disruption’, which can be defined as thefrequency of a specified disruptive event within an agreed
time period (e.g. per year) above which would be
unacceptable to the business. This is not a term currently
used in BCM but could be a useful measure instead of oralongside the more familiar ‘maximum acceptable outage’(MAO) or ‘maximum tolerable period of disruption’ (MTPD).
If you know which weather variables led to this disruption(i.e. the temperature or amount of rainfall), it is possible toestimate when this frequency will be breached using the
UKCP09 weather generator17.

Another significant impact on the choice of BC strategy isthat climate change effects may be widespread andtherefore may require a different approach. Strategy options
that provide alternative means of operating when a localized
disruption occurs may not be available if the incident isaffecting a larger area.
Your strategy may already include taking an iterative approach.
This can allow for flexibility by prioritizing actions that canbe changed later when more information becomes available
and may include a process of adaptive management, whichseeks to take advantage of appropriate decision points.
These approaches can be particularly useful for an issue suchas climate change, which influences a wide range of decisions
and for which there is often incomplete information.

Task 11: Select and implement preferred adaptation options(Relevant clause in ISO 22301: 8.4)
Referring to your BC strategy, for each climate risk identify
preferred adaptation options. For some this will involve
amending your BC plans and procedures. But for others you
will need to make the case for putting in place measures
aimed at tackling the likelihood of occurrence.
The implementation of these actions will probably sit
outside your BCMS. This may already have been flagged
up as you were considering your scope but if not, revisit
Task 3 and make sure you have engaged the right people.
Internal engagement may be required to gain support for
any actions that you think should be considered. Put together
business cases that are specific to each action explaining
what you expect to be gained from taking the action,
drawing on the advice given in Table 1. In particular, takeadvantage of points in time that represent opportunities
for cost-effective adaptation, such as:17• Those dictated by maintenance or renewal cycles• The design stage of a new project• During review of policy or strategy.
Make it clear that missing these opportunities could
further embed your vulnerability to climate change.
Unfortunately it is very difficult to estimate the cost of
future climate change impacts. This means that it is difficult
to assess the effectiveness of different options or to identify
the pay-back times or Return on Investment (RoI).
An approach such as is shown in Box 5 can help make thecase for investments now and in the future but will only
ever provide a rough estimate of future costs because:• It doesn’t take account of changing vulnerability• It excludes weather events of lower magnitude orother types of weather events that may also have hadsignificant consequences.

ukclimateprojections.

23

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Chapter 7.0
However, in many cases it is appropriate to use informationsuch as this to support decisions, despite its shortcomings.
This is because the alternative is to rely on either pastexperience or a precautionary approach, potentially leading

to under or over-adaptation. Moreover, where a significant
investment is required, only a quantitative analysis can help
to support a financial case.

Box 5
Using the weather generator to inform adaptation strategy18
The objective of this assessment is to ensuresustainable energy use in a school and to inform thechoice of adaptation measures. The school is new-build,so if operation of the school requires more energy
than specified in the building contract, then thecontracting developer is held accountable.
It is known that a persistently warm minimum
temperature (exceeding 16 °C for three nights in a row)
makes the building uncomfortably warm during the day.
By analysing the weather generator output with thethreshold detector, an increase in frequency incomparison with the baseline climate was presented(Table 4 below). This is an estimate of the number of times
the threshold can be expected to be crossed in a year
now and in the future (for the high emissions scenario).
Table 4: Threshold detector output:*
Time period

Estimated number of times per
year the night time temperature
can be expected to 16 °C for threenights in a row

Baseline period
2040s

1,3

2050s

2,0

2060s

2,8

A number of adaptation measures were suggested to
manage these climate risks, as follows:• Increased use of green infrastructure – open spaces,
woodlands, street trees, fields, parks, outdoor sports
facilities and community gardens• Solar control – includes shading (e.g. narrow corridors
between buildings, vegetation canopies), orientation
and building morphology to reduce solar heat gain18

 ased on UKCP09 worked example by Acclimatise (2009) but amended usingB
real rather than dummy data.

24

 dvanced glazing systems can also be used to reduceA
solar gain
• Increasing evaporative cooling – through use offountains, water features, vegetated open spaces,
trees and plants, and roof gardens• Increasing ventilation – orientation and morphologyof buildings to catch breezes• Using cool pavement materials on roadways or large
parking areas – to increase surface reflectivity(though it’s important to avoid glare problems) orincrease permeability to benefit from the cooling
effect of evaporation• Use of cool building materials on roofs or facades– to prevent storage of solar heat gain
• Building envelope insulation – to prevent penetrationof heat into buildings. This includes the use of coolfacade materials and green roofs• Ground water cooling (using aquifers) or surface watercooling absorption cooling – runs on a thermal input(from hot water or the sun) rather than electricity.
Many CCHP (combined cooling, heat and power)systems use this type of cooling• Mechanical cooling, including chilled beams andconventional air conditioning systems.
Each of these adaptation measures will require additional
capital investment.
Using the UKCP09 weather generator, the contractor
can assess the incidence of ‘heat wave events’ in future
decades over the concession period, to compare thelikely reductions in income and higher operating or
energy costs against the costs of refurbishment.
This type of decadal analysis will inform decisions about
when it would be most cost-effective to refurbish the school.

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 7.0

One way of reviewing BC plans or procedures is throughexercising (see clause 8.5). Consider climate change when
designing a severe weather scenario to test, for example
scenarios based on the three bullets listed in Task 7.

As you select preferred actions, you may identify additional
support needs, such as awareness raising and competencies.

Further reading for Chapter 7.0
For further help with identifying threats and benefits
and assessing climate risk see ‘Assessing and Managing
Climate Change Risks in Supply Chains’ available fromacclimatise.uk.com/resources?resource=202.

The UKCP09 Weather Generator and threshold detector
can help estimate the frequency of occurrence of defined
weather events. Go to ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk
and click on User Interface.

25

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Chapter 8.0

8.0 Performance Evaluation
By definition, adapting to climate change involves responding
to a continually changing world. This process involves making
sure that any new information, methods or priorities areaccounted for by monitoring, measuring, analysis andevaluation in order to inform your management review.

Therefore this final process is divided into the following tasks:
Task 12: Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Task 13: Management review

Task 12: Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation(Relevant clause in ISO 22301: 9.1)
Monitor the business impact of weather events, including
details of the length of disruption, any associated costs andthe effectiveness of any adaptation actions or BC procedures.
If possible, highlight any critical thresholds in weather
variables, above which the impacts became significant.
The template you used in Task 1 (Appendix B) can be used
for this on an ongoing basis.
Keep a watching brief on emerging information and guidance,such as from relevant trade associations, professional bodies
and advisory groups. For example trade associations may
provide information on climate risks and adaptation
measures relevant to your particular sector. Similarly,
professional bodies and other networks may be a route tofinding out how others are approaching this challenge.

Monitor how the context is changing e.g. new suppliers(their locations and capabilities) new equipment orprocesses or changing business priorities.
Analyse the output from these monitoring activities to see
if it has any implications for you BIA, risk assessment,
preferred adaptation actions or BC plans and procedures.
Identify also, if any opportunities are being created where
the business could benefit from adaptation.
Using this guide as a starting point together with otheremerging information and guidance, explore what good looks
like, bearing in mind that there is not yet enough experienceof adapting to climate change to clearly define best practice.
Evaluate your approach against this.

Task 13: Management review(Relevant clause in ISO 22301: 9.3)
The management review of your BCMS may be the point at
which you introduce the idea of using it to adapt to climatechange by flagging it up as a BCM issue that is notadequately addressed, drawing on the points made in Box 1.
This guide can be used in a light touch way to gather theevidence required to achieve this. Refer in particular to
Task 3 for guidance on raising awareness.

26

Subsequent management reviews will use the output of
Task 12 to ensure the continuing suitability, adequacy andeffectiveness of this element of your BCMS.

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management Systembsigroup.com

Appendix A: Template for planning adaptation processes
Processes

Linked to BCMS
process(es)Linked to otherbusiness process(es)Lead role

Supporting roles

When

Notes

Reviewing the context

Developing leadership

Understanding the issue

Preparing for climate change

Performance evaluation

27

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Appendix B: Template for cataloguing past weather events
Business impact

Intermediate impact(s)Description of weather event

Response

e.g. cost, disruption, lost/ gained sales,change in productivity

e.g. flooding of premises, flooding of local
area, damage to assets, water unavailability,
uncomfortable/ unsafe working conditions

e.g. heavy rain, storm, heatwave, high winds,
drought (include threshold if possible)

i.e. the BC procedures that were deployed28

This Smart Guide was prepared by Kay Johnstone of theEnvironment Agency’s Climate Ready Support Service.
A review panel including BCM experts was provided by BSI
and the project benefited from an advisory group comprising
representatives from Defra, BIS, BSI, the Environment Agency
and Climate UK. The author would also like to express her
sincere thanks to the following BC practitioners for theirtime and valuable insights:
Katherine Corbishley
Jag Gogna
Janet Poole
The Climate Ready Support Service provides support andguidance to organizations on managing their climate risks andcan be contacted at climatechange@environment-agency.gov.uk

BSI Group
389 Chiswick High Road
London, W4 4AL
United Kingdom
T: +44 845 086 9001
E: cservices@bsigroup.com
bsigroup.com© BSI Group 2014

Acknowledgements

BSI/UK/401/ST/0414/en/DD

Adapting to Climate Change using your Business Continuity Management System