When Adapting to Climate Change Becomes a Strategic Lever
3 companies are taking action
In the face of climate change, adaptationis no longer a theoretical consideration; it has become essential to business continuity.
The report Adaptation and Resilience of Quebec Businesses, produced by QNP in collaboration with the Ouranos scientific consortium, highlights, among other things, organizations that are turning climate risks into concrete business decisions.
Three Quebec companies, from very different sectors and of very different sizes, illustrate what it really means to adapt to climate change:
- Écolopharm
- Hydro-Québec
- Maison Orphée
Their stories offer valuable lessonsfor all small and medium-sized businesses.
Adapting Early: Écolopharm’s Strategic Advantage
At Écolopharm, the adaptation was not treated as a separate project, but was integrated directly into an expansion project.
Écolopharm chose to:
- incorporate solutions from the building’s design phase
- reduce future reliance on air conditioning
- strengthen its supply chain in the face of climate change
Key learnings
- A seasonal irritant is often a future structural risk
- It’s cheaper to adapt things early on than to fix them later
- Anticipating regulatory changes can become a competitive advantage
Framing Adaptation as a Mobilization Tool at Hydro-Québec
For an organization like Hydro-Québec, which is directly exposed to climate-related risks, adaptation requires systematic planning.
In particular, Hydro-Québec has:
- incorporated climate projections into its hydrological models
- mapped high-risk areas to reduce outages
- introduced innovations such as the use of drones during ice storms
Key takeaways:
- View uncertainty as an opportunity to be seized
- Incorporate climate considerations from the design phase
- Choose robust scenarios and develop contingency plans
- Engage all internal teams
- An effective approach relies on strong commitment and buy-in from leadership and management
- Valuing on-the-ground experience: the best solutions often come from teams that deal with weather events on a daily basis
- Adaptation is also a driver of organizational mobilization.
Working Together to Cope with Setbacks: The Maison Orphée Approach
In the agri-food sector, Maison Orphée is already feeling the effects of climate change through its costs and supply chains.
Maison Orphée focuses on:
- dialogue with suppliers
- integrating its value chain into decision-making
- a pragmatic, action-based approach
Key learnings
- Get started and move forward realistically: it’s essential to get started, even on a small scale.
- Quantify risks and prioritize actions
- Integrating adaptation into corporate governance
- Adaptation is most effective when carried out collectively, by multidisciplinary teams.
- Fostering collaboration across the value chain
- Communicating initiatives is essential to mobilize and inspire.
Download the special adaptation booklet
Read the press release