Climate Risk – Response and Attitudes

Robert Mbonu

In December 2015, 195 nations adopted the Paris Agreement unanimously, and hundreds of millions of people widely recognised it as a historic achievement. Scientists tell us the emission of greenhouse gases is contributing to global warming. That the adverse weather we currently face is a result of this warming, and that things will get significantly worse unless the emissions are brought to zero. The outcome of this meeting sparked a global frenzy of countries taking on net-zero emissions targets by 2050 or before. 

Naturally, people have different responses to the unfolding climate situation we face. Seeing as people, not machines, head businesses and governments, responses are bound to differ.

The human brain is incredibly adaptable to change. With every change, there will be differences in attitudes. Some people are either risk averse, risk seeking, or risk neutral. For some, the risk of climate change is a threat, while for others with the foresight to implement risk management techniques, it presents a world of opportunity. The transition to a carbon-neutral and sustainable future is full of opportunity.

As a risk management consultant, I have been engaged by organisations to design risk frameworks. This involves interviewing the senior management, heads of departments, and directors. The three questions I frequently ask are:

1. What do you think are the biggest threats to this organisation, how big are they and

how are they changing?

2. What do you see as the biggest opportunities, how big are they and how are they changing?

3. What is stopping the organisation from embracing those opportunities and dealing

with the threats?

At one specific consultation, the end of the question session was followed by an examination of the outputs, a review and mapping of over 100 risks, and a write-up of the final report. The mood in the room changed when we presented the top two risks to the Board of Directors. They were outraged. Questions such as, ‘Who has been telling you these lies?’ and, ‘How dare you?’ were bandied about. Quietly, I explained to them that these were their own facts and reality.

You see, their two biggest risks were ones that were so huge they were too difficult to

see. A bit like when you live in a polluted city, you don’t see the smog after a while. You stop smelling it and you stop worrying about it. Until you leave the crowded city for the hill-top village or countryside, suddenly the air is fresh.  Then when you look down on the city, you see the grey haze over the top – the haze you could never see when you were in it.

For this particular organisation, their two biggest threats were also their two biggest

opportunities. The first was that technological advances would make them irrelevant if they

did not embrace them and build them into their business plan. The second, and most difficult, was that there was a complete divide between those that believed in the first risk

and wanted to move on, and those (mainly the older directors) that only lived in

the past, wanted nothing to do with technology, and saw no threat to the organisation in

that attitude. Some months later, I was pleased to see that the organisation in question had

embraced the technological opportunities presented to them, whilst preserving the

repository of wisdom and knowledge in the older directors. A compromise had been

reached once the shouting stopped.

The wealthy may consider that climate risk is something that will only affect

those who are poor. The youth, who make up more than 50% of Nigeria’s population, might believe that it’s the job of the ruling class to do something about climate risk. However, climate risk will affect the rich as well as the poor, the young as well as the old. We are all in it together and we need a common agreement as to the way forward. Like a boat with a hole, we all need to be mending the hole (mitigation) and bailing the water out (adaptation).

Climate risk presents both threats and opportunities. To see the issues clearly and without

the smog of our own biases, we need to climb collectively to the top of the mountain and ask ourselves those same three questions that I asked my client. Then we need to act to

embrace the opportunities and deal with the threats.

The potential for climate change to impact lives, livelihoods, businesses, and the economy, means the risk is real. Climate action failure has been identified by the World Economic Forum as the risk with the potential to inflict the most damage at a global scale over the next decade. 

In a multi tribal and cultural country such as Nigeria, a difference in attitude is not easy to face, nor is it easy to examine our varying opinions up close. This is not a time for denial, bullying, blame, or walking away. We are all in this together. Face a mutual compromise we must, if we wish to find solutions in mitigating and adapting to climate change, and in doing so, harness the opportunities that present themselves along the way.

This is the third article in this series looking at Climate Change in Nigeria by Robert Mbonu (rcmbonu@gmail.com).