Climate-related risks and opportunities for agriculture and forestry businesses

Businesses in the agricultural and forestry sectors are very dependent on the weather and climate for stable production and business. With climate change, businesses in the land use sector will face both new possibilities and new challenges. However, for many businesses, it is not clear in what way or to what extent climate change will affect their business opportunities.

The method developed for this project is based on lessons learned from previous work in England and Scotland. Using businesses’ production and supply chain as a starting point, the focus has been on increasing the businesses’ resilience while at the same time exploiting new opportunities.

Using existing business goals as a starting point, the participating companies have assessed climate-related changes that can affect their areas of business during the next 15-20 years. This is not a long time in the context of climate but it is a long time in the planning horizon of many businesses. On the basis of supply chain and business goals, the companies have analysed how they have been affected by earlier weather-related events and how future climate and socio-economic changes may affect their business operations.

By studying the entire supply chain, both direct risks for production and indirect risks, such as disrupted deliveries, production costs, quality or availability, have been identified and assessed. Countermeasures have been thought out and prioritized. Some of the companies discovered that climate change could also open up new business opportunities.

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