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ompanies must make sure they play their part in finding solutions.

Transformational change within and between companies is essential if the world is to meet the challenges posed by climate change. That, at least, is the stark conclusion reached by the NGOs, public bodies, businesses and other stakeholders who have contributed to recent roundtables at the IMD Global Center for Sustainability Leadership Learning Platform. Climate change cannot be resolved by one group or sector acting alone, and nor can it be swept under the carpet and ignored.

The climate is changing

There can be no doubt that we are seeing climate change. The ten-year average temperature continues to rise, while we began 2014 with a range of extreme weather events, from intense heat waves in Slovenia and Australia to a polar vortex in North America.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'€™s recent Fifth Assessment Report paints a bleak enough picture about the effects and vulnerabilities created by these changes. It confirms that climate change is already contributing to problems like flooding, disruption to farming and food supply, and species migration and extinction.

What this means is that an increasing number of people around the globe are at risk from the effects of climate change. Structural and non-structural elements '€“ including action taken by companies '€“ need to be put in place to increase society'€™s resilience to such changes. Solutions need to be fit for purpose and they also need to be workable for a long time to come.

Although sectors that have an obvious connection to energy or infrastructure issues face particular demands, ultimately all companies will be affected.

It is time for action

So what actions can, and should, companies be taking to face the challenges of climate change, mitigate risk, capitalize on opportunity and build resilience? Corporate stakeholders that the IMD CSL Platform works with separate their suggestions into two areas: internal and external.

Internal actions
'€¢ present a compelling business case for action by communicating both risks and opportunities, connecting them to external drivers
'€¢ strengthen your case by linking short- and long-term goals
'€¢ lead by example: demonstrate progress, provide clear internal targets, and quantify impact
'€¢ integrate biodiversity metrics
'€¢ emphasize the issue'€™s importance to your company strategy by creating a clear vision, inspiring employees, leading by example, and focusing on effective governance

External actions
'€¢ contribute to the shaping of regulatory frameworks with governments
'€¢ look beyond your own company and its value chain to influence across sectors and supply chains
'€¢ encourage suppliers through a win-win dialogue
'€¢ ensure your actions are relevant to consumers fight bureaucracy
'€¢ recognize that the solution may not be what is expected
'€¢ encourage innovation through cross-industry and cross-sector collaboration
'€¢ look for linkages and partnerships at all levels '€“ governments, businesses, and NGOs
'€¢ reduce the risk premium of '€œdoing good'€ projects, even if uncertainty persists
'€¢ create a '€œde-risking'€ financing mechanism to support investors and guarantee returns
'€¢ focus on both incremental and transformational change

None of these actions need to be taken in a vacuum: a plethora of organizations and groups are already working together with companies to find ways that they can contribute. Here are some interesting examples of new or relatively new initiatives based in the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva near to IMD in Switzerland:

R20: The need for more local solutions

The R20 is a coalition of partners led by regional governments that work to promote and implement resilience projects that are designed to produce local economic and environmental benefits. Founded in 2010 by ex-Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and other global leaders in cooperation with the United Nations, it takes a bottom-up approach to encouraging local actions with the aim of helping the world achieve shared global environmental and economic goals.

It takes an effective dialog for public, private and government stakeholders to work together to pursue innovative public-private partnerships. R20 facilitates such dialogue, provides technical assistance and demonstrates the kind of projects that are worthy of investment in a given context. For example, solar energy projects may be more effective in Mali while zero-waste to energy projects might be the focus in Algeria.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Using biodiversity and ecosystems to promote resilience

IUCN '€“ another thought leader that contributes to the IMD CSL Platform discussions '€“ has been engaging with business for the last 10 years on the question of how to deploy nature-based solutions to climate, food, and development problems. Biodiversity and ecosystems can be used to address some of the biggest challenges cities face today, from reducing the impact of climate change, ensuring food, water, and energy security, improving health, saving money, and promoting economic development.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB): Moving to the next generation

The RSB brings together farmers, companies, NGOs, experts, governments, and inter-governmental agencies concerned with ensuring the sustainability of biomaterials production and processing. According to Rolf Hogan, CEO of the RSB, one of the key issues on the RSB agenda is the contribution of biofuels to the energy-food-water nexus that results in tension between food and biofuel production, a tension that must be reduced or stopped. To do this, alternative biofuels that are not conflicting with food production must be found.

How is this challenge progressing? While first-generation biofuels such as sugar, starch, and vegetable oil have become more efficient, production is now reaching a plateau. Next came a move toward second-generation biofuels such as woody biomass residues that are less reliant on food crops and arable land. Now the third generation '€“ algae '€“ is coming online and biotechnology, the fourth generation, is in its development stages.

 The EU is looking to incentivize the use of second- and third-generation biofuels that are less land intensive and promote the use of degraded land, intercropping, and integrated land-use planning techniques to maximize yield.

What all of these ideas and efforts have in common is partnership. These organizations and many others acknowledge that no one group working alone can solve the complex, serious challenges posed by climate change. It is up to businesses to make sure that they play their part in finding these solutions.

Somers is the director of the IMD Global Center for Sustainability Leadership Learning Platform.

Szekely is the Sandoz Family Foundation professor of Leadership and Sustainability and director of the Global Center for Sustainability Leadership at IMD.