Environment, Development and Sustainability (2021) 23:18540–18555

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01468-z

Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:

interpretations, implementations, and interactions

Giuseppe Forino1,2 · Jason von Meding3

Received: 9 March 2020 / Accepted: 24 April 2021 / Published online: 29 April 2021
© Crown 2021

Abstract
Climate change and associated processes can increase the occurrence of some natural haz-
ards and threaten business operations. Therefore, it is widely recommended businesses
respond to climate change and implement climate change adaptation. Worldwide, busi-
nesses make efforts towards climate change adaptation, but investigation on such efforts
is still required. To partially fill this research gap, the paper explores businesses adapta-
tion efforts in the Hunter Valley, Australia. The paper collects primary data from open-
ended interviews to 10 representatives of local businesses and supporting organizations.
The paper reveals that businesses interpret climate change in different ways. While some
businesses are sceptical about climate change, others are aware of it and its impacts on
everyday operations. Businesses therefore implement adaptation by integrating climate
change into everyday operations and continuity planning. The paper also shows diverse
interactions occurring between businesses and other local stakeholders such as govern-
ments and communities. Usually, higher government levels offer vague and limited support
to businesses and inhibit their adaptive efforts. Meanwhile, interactions between businesses
and City Councils can be both collaborative and fragmented. Some businesses also inter-
act with local communities by disclosing information about their operations and response
to climate change. The paper discusses these findings and provides conclusions under the
form of recommendations for policy and research on Australian businesses and climate
change adaptation.

Keywords Disaster risk · Climate change adaptation · Private sector · Business · Australia

* Giuseppe Forino
g.forino@gmail.com
1
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park,
Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
2
School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan,
Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia
3
M.E Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management, Florida Institute for Built Environment
Resilience (FIBER), 1480 Inner Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, US

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Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18541

1 Introduction

In combination with a range of natural and anthropogenic drivers of environmental

changes, climate change can exacerbate frequency, severity and intensity for some natu-
ral hazards (IPCC, 2018). Climate change-related hazards have also large impacts on a
vast range of businesses, from individual traders to multinational companies (Canevari-
Luzardo, 2019; Goldstein et al., 2019; Neise et al., 2018; Schneider, 2014; Surminski,
2013; Surminski et al., 2018). Impacts on businesses include direct losses (e.g. damage to
personnel, assets, and stock); indirect losses (e.g. business and supply chain interruption
or disruption); negative effects for market (e.g. loss for market share, competition taking
markets, costlier insurance); and macroeconomic effects (e.g. higher interest rates, labour
shortages, reduced demand, and service provision interruption) (Mavrodieva & Shaw,
2019; McKnight & Linnenluecke, 2019; Sarmiento et al., 2015; Stevenson & Seville,
2017). Businesses also directly contribute to exacerbate disaster risk. They can alter social
features and environmental quality by, e.g. building unsafe facilities or producing, using,
storing and distributing harmful or hazardous substances and materials (Schneider, 2014;
Stevenson & Seville, 2017). In addition, supply chain processes indirectly contribute to
create hazardous conditions and increase vulnerability and exposure of personnel, commu-
nities, and environment (Sarmiento et al., 2015; Stevenson & Seville, 2017).
To cope with climate change-related hazards, the United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change1 launched the Adaptation Private Sector Initiative to guide busi-
nesses in their investments and strategies to respond to climate change (DiBella, 2020;
Mavrodieva & Shaw, 2019; Stevenson & Seville, 2017; Surminski, 2013). Likewise, the
Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures2 recommended businesses include
climate change response into everyday operations, value chains, and governance (Canevari-
Luzardo et al., 2020). Climate change adaptation (CCA) is one of the strategies recom-
mended for business to respond to climate change (Canevari-Luzardo et al., 2020; DiBella,
2020; Schaer & Kuruppu, 2018; Schneider, 2014; Surminski et al., 2018). CCA is the set to
adjustments for adapting ecological, social, or economic systems to actual or expected cli-
matic stimuli and their effects or impacts (Smit & Pilifosova, 2003). CCA refers to changes
in processes, practices, and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from
opportunities associated with climate change (Smit & Pilifosova, 2003).
To implement CCA, businesses need to understand the possible implications of climate
change for their operations, to incorporate climate change into strategic planning and deci-
sion-making, and to implement suitable actions accordingly (Surminski, 2013). Therefore,
CCA includes a range of actions such as raising business awareness about climate risks;
developing and using tools and technology for climate information and services; insuring
business operations and assets; undertaking adaptive measures driven by changes in the
demand; or, making large and long-term investments in CCA (Agrawala et al., 2011; Sur-
miski, 2013).
However, how different businesses interpret climate change and adapt their behav-
iours, policies and procedures in their operational and relational context is a topic that still
requires investigation (Jehmlich et al., 2020). Therefore, this paper aims at providing a bet-
ter understanding of how businesses contribute to CCA. The paper unpacks businesses’

1
https://​unfccc.​int/​topics/​resil​ience/​resou​rces/​adapt​ation-​priva​te-​sector (Access: 25 January 2021).
2
https://​www.​fsb-​tcfd.​org/​wp-​conte​nt/​uploa​ds/​2018/​08/​FINAL-​2018-​TCFD-​Status-​Report-​092518.​pdf
(Access: 25 January 2021).

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18542 G. Forino, J. von Meding

interpretations, implementations and interactions around CCA by investigating business

actions in some Australian case studies. Australia is a hot and dry country where climate
change increases frequency and intensity for some extreme natural hazards (Aldum et al.,
2014), with impacts on business operations (Kuruppu et al., 2013, 2015). The paper pre-
sents and discusses primary data obtained from individual open-ended interviews with
representatives of businesses and supporting organizations. The paper is organized as it
follows. In the next section, the paper provides an overview of adaptive efforts in the Aus-
tralian private sector. Then, it describes the employed qualitative methodology. Afterwards,
the paper presents its findings based on main themes from an inductive content analysis
of interview data. Finally, it discusses these findings and provides conclusions to inform
future policy and research on Australian businesses and CCA.

2 Literature review: Australian government, businesses,

and adaptation

Australia is one of the countries with the largest global coal production and pro-capita con-
tributions to GHG emissions (Cunningham et al., 2019). The 2020 Climate Change Per-
forming Index3 ranks Australia 54th on 57 countries in relation to the performance of cli-
mate change response. Since the 1990s, the domestic coal production in Australia has more
than doubled. In 2017–2018, coal export represented 75% of the total production, in com-
parison with 55% in 1990–1991 (ndevr environmental, 2019). Renewable electricity gen-
eration fell by 0.7 Tera Watt hours (TWh), while fossil fuel electricity generation increased
by 3.5 TWh. By 2030, current emissions trends would add 970 Mt ­CO2 emissions (equal
to 1.8 years of total national emissions) to those ones agreed in the Conference of Parties
2015 (ndevr environmental, 2019).
Since the 1990s, the Australian Government has adopted a minimalist and business-as-
usual approach towards climate change, regardless of political colours and electoral man-
dates (Bowden, 2018). With the influential role of large GHG emitters, this approach sees
climate change as a brake to economic growth (Hamilton, 2001), denies climate science,
and refuses to comply to international agreements on climate action (Bowden et al., 2019).
Along the years, the Australian Government did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and
repelled an emission trading scheme for large polluters (2014) (Crowley, 2017). It also sup-
ports institutional and corporate greenwashing (Wright & Nyberg, 2014), and repeatedly
cuts funds for climate science and policy.
Notwithstanding this approach by the Australian government towards climate change,
there has been some encouragement for businesses to respond to climate change. In 1998,
the national strategy on Greenhouse Policy urged businesses to implement adaptive meas-
ures (Head, 2014). In early 2000s, a temporary alliance between scientists, environmental
groups, and progressive businesses urged the Australian Government and national indus-
tries to minimize contribution to climate change and accelerate a sustainable transition
(Head, 2014). In 2005, the Australian Government (2005) recommended different stake-
holders (including the private sector) incorporate climate change and CCA into risk assess-
ment and create cross-sector partnerships. Afterwards, the National Climate Resilience
and Adaptation Strategy (Australian Government, 2015) and the National Climate Change

3
https://​www.​clima​te-​change-​perfo​rmance-​index.​org/​count​ry/​austr​alia (Access: 25 January 2021).

13
Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18543

Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) (West & Brereton, 2013) provided guidelines
for implementing CCA in the private sector. The NCCARF also prepared a roadmap for
businesses to incorporate climate change into risk assessment and to increase investments
into CCA (Rissik & Smith, 2015). In 2017, the NCCARF released CoastAdapt,4 an online
tool to support local governments and businesses in identifying, assessing, and responding
to climate risks in coastal areas, and to make informed decisions and create collaborative
networks.
In such scenario, climate change and climate-related hazards impact significantly Aus-
tralian businesses (Kumarasiri & Gunasekarage, 2017). Floods, cyclones, and bushfires
cause operations’ interruption with increasing insurance costs and declining market shifts
(Kuruppu et al., 2013; West & Brereton, 2013). Therefore, some Australian businesses
have shown commitment in developing and implementing CCA. For example, a survey
found that 90% of the responding small and medium businesses in Australia adopted CCA
into their everyday operations (Kuruppu et al., 2015). However, information related to
CCA in the Australian private sector and its drivers, barriers and outcomes is generally
limited (Agrawala et al., 2011; Neise et al., 2018; Schaer & Kuruppu, 2018).
In addition, reluctancy exists across Australian businesses to consider a wide range of
climate change-related issues in business planning (West & Brereton, 2013) and to imple-
ment CCA (Schneider, 2014). Indeed, Australian businesses tend to view climate change
as a relatively long-term and uncertain phenomenon, rather than an event that requires
immediate action (Kang et al., 2017). Consequently, Australian businesses see investments
in CCA as decreasing short-term profitability (Kang et al., 2017). They prefer diverting
resources on more urgent operations (Bates et al., 2013), postponing CCA (Schneider,
2014), or complying just formally to norms and regulations (Linnenluecke et al., 2013;
Surminski, 2013). It should also be considered that business capacities to implement CCA
in Australia are diversified and depend from the type of risks businesses face, and from the
nature and size of the business (Bates et al., 2013; West & Brereton, 2013). Generally, Aus-
tralian businesses have limited capacities, tools or techniques to collect and assess infor-
mation on climate change and CCA, and to translate this information into action (Waters
et al., 2014).
The aforementioned issues reveal the necessity for exploring different understandings,
knowledges, values, and political interests that exist between and across organizations,
and for moving beyond business-as-usual approaches and narratives (Eriksen et al., 2021).
Therefore, it is key to investigate how Australian businesses interpret climate change,
implement CCA, and interact with other stakeholders.

3 Methods

3.1 Case studies

This paper focuses on the Hunter Valley, a region of the New South Wales (NSW) State.
Located about 150 km north of Sydney, the Hunter Valley is loosely defined by the catch-
ment of the Hunter River and host approximately 630,000 inhabitants (Higginbotham et al.,
2014). In the last years, the Hunter Valley has experienced disruptive hydrometeorological

4
https://​www.​coast​adapt.​com.​au/ (Access: 29th December 2020).

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18544 G. Forino, J. von Meding

hazards such as the so-called Pasha Bulker (2007) and Hunter and Central Coast (April
2015) storms (Verdon-Kidd et al. 2016). Together with other smaller but more recurrent
storms, floods, bushfires, and heatwaves, these events have caused damage and loss to local
communities, environments, economy, and infrastructure.
The economy of the Hunter Valley consists of a florid primary sector that includes thor-
oughbred breeding, farming, viticulture, and wine tourism industries (Schweinsberg &
McManus, 2020). However, since the last decades, coalmine industry is in rapid expansion,
competing with other local economy activities and largely contributing to GHG emission
(Bowden, 2018). Both in Australia and the Hunter Valley, coalmine industry shares large
amount of political power (Bowden, 2018) and is influential on public discourse and deci-
sion-making. The misleading and ad hoc created narrative of coalmine industry as a major
way to ensure jobs and social protection in the country (Merzian et al., 2019) undermines
efforts towards a more sustainable agenda for the Hunter Valley. Local communities, envi-
ronmental activists, and climate groups challenge this narrative since long, and urge for
moving immediately towards a low-carbon economy that ensures social and environmen-
tal justice (Schweinsberg & McManus, 2020). A genuine political willingness to modify
carbon-driven trajectories would be critical towards this goal, but it is unfortunately absent.
The selected case studies are three local government areas in the Hunter Valley, namely
Singleton, Newcastle, and Lake Macquarie. These case studies are paradigmatic (Flyvb-
jerg, 2006) of the Australia’s and Hunter Valley’s sensitiveness to climate change as well as
of issues arising around CCA in the country (see Forino et al., 2017, 2018, 2019).
Singleton is a regional local government area with a population of approximately 23,000
inhabitants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019) spread between Singleton (approxi-
mately 16,000 inhabitants) and several small rural settlements. The primary sector is key
for Singleton (Department of Primary Industries, 2013) but competes with an expanding
coal and coal seam gas extractive sector (22% of the whole employment in Singleton). Cli-
mate-related hazards, including floods and bushfire, regularly affect Singleton.
Newcastle is a coastal local government area with a population of approximately
155,000 inhabitants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). Newcastle hosts a variegated
range of industries, from manufacturing and energy exports to healthcare, education, retail,
construction and tourism (NSW Government, 2019). Newcastle also hosts the national old-
est and third largest port. It is also one of the largest coal ports in the world, with coal
representing over 90% of its total tonnage (NSW Government, 2019). Together with other
climate-related hazards, the Pasha Bulker and the Hunter and Central Coast storms caused
severe damages to local communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems (Naumann, 2015;
Verdon-Kidd et al., 2016).
Lake Macquarie is a coastal local government area with approximately 200,000 inhabit-
ants (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). A large part of its population lives along the
coasts of the lake Macquarie that are critically exposed to sea-level rise (O’Donnell, 2019)
and regular flooding. Climate change can exacerbate these hazards (Bowden et al., 2019).
In 2007, the Pasha Bulker storm led to an estimated AUD 2 million losses with damages to
buildings and infrastructure (Verdon-Kidd et al. 2016).

3.2 Data collection

The paper employs qualitative methods to cover a large set of contextual issues that are
relevant for investigating topics related to climate change and CCA in Australia. To col-
lect primary data, the paper uses open-ended interviews that allow research participants

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Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18545

Table 1  Participants’ details

Code for business (B) or sup- Type of B or SO Role of the research
porting organization (SO) participant in B or SO

B1 Construction company Project manager

B2 Port service provider CEO
B3 Wine and tourism sector association CEO
B4 Grape production CEO
B5 Tourism association CEO
SO1 Development agency Communication manager
SO2 Land management agency Risk management officer
SO3 Primary sector agency Project officer
SO4 City Council Economic Department Officer
SO5 City Council Land Planning Department Officer

provide as much details as they desire to express their views and experiences (Turner III,
2010). The human ethics research committee of the University of Newcastle approved the
interview protocol. This protocol is based on ten open-ended questions and categorized
under three predefined clusters: (1) the consideration of climate change into business oper-
ations; (2) the way businesses implement CCA; and, (3) the relationships with other local
stakeholders. The interview protocol included the same questions for all the research par-
ticipants and allowed for potential follow-up questions.
Between June and November 2016, 10 individual open-ended interviews were con-
ducted with representatives of 5 businesses (B) and 5 supporting organizations (SO) across
the selected case studies. Research participants selection occurred across those businesses
and supporting organizations that were considered to have specific interests on climate
change, CCA, hazards and vulnerability, and to be able to cover diverse opinions and expe-
riences on these topics. These participants were initially contacted via email or telephone.
Those who responded and showed an interest in the research were provided with an infor-
mation sheet, and then formally invited to take part in an interview with a consent form to
be signed.
Research participants included representatives of local businesses from local agricul-
tural, construction, tourism, and service sectors, as well as of organizations such as City
Councils and government regional branches that closely support businesses at the local
level. Research participants’ details were not disclosed. Table 1 reports anonymized details
on the type of participating business or supporting organization, and on the role of each
research participant in the business or supporting organization. Interviews took place at
the most convenient date, time, and location for each research participant. According to
research participants’ time availability and willingness to engage with questions, nine
interviews were conducted face-to-face and lasted approximately 45–60 min, while one
was conducted by phone (upon participant’s request) and lasted around 30 min. Interviews
were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim.

3.3 Data analysis

Primary data were analysed through an inductive content analysis. Such analysis groups
words into fewer content‐related categories and allows the identification of the most

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relevant themes for the investigated topic, and the description and interpretation of the most
meaningful data (Roberts et al., 2019). Inductive content analysis includes open coding,
that is a form of pattern recognition whereby codes emerging from the data become ana-
lytical categories (Roberts et al., 2019). These categories are grouped under higher order
headings to reduce the number of overlapping or similar categories into broader higher
order categories (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). In this way, the entirety of the material is under-
stood by studying the parts, while the parts can be understood just in relation to its entirety
(Roberts et al., 2019). Sometimes, overlapping contents could be sorted into more than
one emerging theme, as the thresholds between emerging themes tend to become blurred
(Tesch, 1987). Notwithstanding this, efforts have been done to include emerging themes
within the most suitable category.

4 Findings

The next sections will present findings based on three main themes and related subthemes
emerging from the data analysis, as it follows: Interpretations of Climate Change, Imple-
mentations of CCA​, and Interactions with Stakeholders. Interpretations of climate change
consist of Scepticism and Climate Change Awareness. Implementations of CCA occur
through the Integration of CCA in Everyday Business Operations and Business Continuity
Planning. Finally, different aspects characterize the interactions of businesses with local
stakeholders, as it follows: Vagueness by the NSW Government; Twofold Support by City
Councils for Implementing CCA​; and Disclosure of Activities to Ensure Transparency with
Local Communities.

4.1 Interpretations of Climate Change

People experience, understand and perceive climate change in different ways, hence gener-
ating a variety of interpretations around climate change (Connor & Higginbotham, 2013;
Higginbotham et al., 2014). Based on these interpretations, people adopt, modify, and
implement different adaptive measures (O’Brien et al., 2007; Rühlemann & Jordan, 2021).
In the selected case studies, diverse interpretations—from scepticism to full acceptance—
exist across people and organizations (see also Connor & Higginbotham, 2013; Higgin-
botham et al., 2014):
Some [people]… see climate change as a clear danger which require immediate
actions. Others believe that the effects and the impacts are difficult to be identified,
probably in the longer term. (B2)

4.1.1 Scepticism

In the Hunter Valley, Bowden (2018) found an inherent distrust from businesses
around environmental positions and a deep scepticism around any adaptive attempts,
in particularly when these can impact on economy and profits. Similar findings emerge
across interviews. Indeed, businesses have “some levels of scepticism around climate
change” (SO3). Climate change is considered as something “way off in the future”
(SO3), “too green, [a] greeny stuff [that] doesn’t apply… on the ground” (SO2). For

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Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18547

example, some farmers consider climate change as a climate variability which they are
used to (see also Connor & Higginbotham, 2013):
[Some people see climate change] more in terms of…climate variability, and
because all farmers are used to managing climate… that’s something that they do
everyday. So…, when you talk about… managing the climate, … people are like,
‘yeah I do that everyday as a farmer’. (SO3)
B3 similarly argues:
in agriculture, you are well aware of seasonal swings… [W]e have hot years, wet
years, dry years, cool years… So, is there an overall a general change? Yes, there
probably is, but year by year, you can’t spin it down, but we all know that that’s
just the season of variations… I don’t see a huge long-term trend… [F]rom olives
point of view, every year is hot in summer [and] cold in winter. (B3)

4.1.2 Climate Change Awareness

Conversely, several participants also reveal their climate change awareness. For exam-
ple, some farmers reveal their awareness about climate change-related impacts on
crops and livestock:
[Y]ou’re already seeing the impact [of climate change] in the Hunter. [T]he fre-
quency of our east coast lows… I think it was three or four east coast lows that
we’ve had in the last twelve months. So, we’re already seeing an increase in
storm surges. The season this year for primary production has actually been…
quite different… [T]he rainfall patterns were actually quite different… [A]s an
example, a lot of farmers sow their winter pastures in around April… They were
actually sowing into May and June. So, … the pasture availability that [farmers]
had over those winter periods was a lot lower, and we had seen some pastures
actually fail… during those times, so… so we’re already seeing things like that.
(SO3)
Likewise, B4 tells that managing vineyards is becoming more difficult, as there are
changes year by year to be possibly linked to climate change:
[C]ertainly, I can feel some changes, and it’s more difficult in the vineyard to
keep the same management year after year because we’ve got to constantly be….
altering it due to climate change. (B4)
The tourism sector increased its climate change awareness after the occurrence of
the two aforementioned Pasha Bulker and Hunter Central Coast storms. This supports
previous evidences from the selected case studies about these two storms as inputs
for climate change awareness (Forino et al., 2018, 2019). After the storm in 2015, the
local tourism sector lost approximately AUD110 million, mostly due to travel book-
ing cancellations (Naumann, 2015). Currently, the local tourism sector takes climate-
related issues and CCA more into consideration:
[The storm in 2015] made tourism operators aware that there is a need for infra-
structure improvement…, for understanding of scope or risk, and… for aligned
action in response to climate change incidents (B5).

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18548 G. Forino, J. von Meding

4.2 Implementations of CCA​

4.2.1 Integration of CCA in Everyday Business Operations

Climate change awareness allows businesses to mobilize their capacities for implement-
ing CCA, for example by integrating CCA into everyday operations (Kuruppu et al.,
2015; Schaer & Kuruppu, 2018). SO2 works for a government agency that offer sup-
port to farmers in their climate change response, and argues that some farmers adopt
a “whole farm approach”. Instead of considering climate change as “a separate thing”
from everyday operations, farmers consider climate change as “a normalised thing”
which they “have to be… proactive” for. Farmers intervene upon crop and livestock vul-
nerability in order “to incorporate… adaptation… just as normal everyday business”.
Accordingly:
[Farmers] need to understand how rainfalls come, so that they can plant the right
crops [and] pastures and… have the right breeds of cattle…. So, if we’re looking at
heat… and increased heat days, we look at animal stress and animal fertility rates
need to plant your river out with trees to have a buffer for floods… [W]e’re not really
saying climate change, [but] the idea is that if you have a well vegetated buffer,
you’ve got a corridor for animals that move up and down or… if there is a flood…
you‘ve got more of a chance that you’re not going to lose your valuable soil. (SO2)
Similarly, climate change awareness in the Australian construction sector is contributing
to respond more efficiently to climate change (Robb et al., 2019). Over the last 30 years,
climate change awareness significantly emerged in the local construction sector:
[I]n the 1990s and the early 2000s… there was a theoretical desirability placed upon
sustainable design, but… that only came from about in 2007-2008 onwards whereby
they became industry standards…when accepted by the industry as being a good
standard to work towards. (SO1)
In these last years, indeed, the construction sector revised its standards and regulations
to incorporate CCA:
You rely on the design of the building in order to be environmentally friendly…
In the housing market …now there is a lot of hot water heating, insulation at much
higher standards than 20, 30 years ago. So, all these things I think are improving the
environmental management of the [domestic] buildings, as well as of the commercial
buildings. (B1)

4.2.2 Mainstreaming CCA into Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Participants also revealed that CCA is a key component for BCP. BCP shifts from a
planned crisis response to an anticipatory approach able to minimize loss and damage
(including those related to climate change) by integrating technical, operational and social
capabilities for identifying and mitigating threats to operations (McKnight & Linnen-
luecke, 2019). While BCP is not yet a consolidated practice among businesses worldwide
(Sarmiento et al., 2015), some Australian businesses have adopted BCP and mainstreamed
CCA (Kuruppu et al., 2015). B2 claims that after the storm 2015 caused the interruption
of Newcastle port’s operations, his business developed “a comprehensive corporate risk

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Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18549

register” that also includes climate change and strategies for “managing climate change-
type risks” through BCP:
Whether the potential to have additional impacts [and] to suffer damage or interrup-
tions of operations, … we have… a business continuity plan that assesses the main
contribution from climate change. It relates to the broad context of risk management:
if you assess risk to require active intervention, those are the actions you take; if you
assess risk to be monitored, those are the actions to be taken. Based on the conse-
quent type assessment, you make your decisions.” (B2)
For example, BCP includes measures to mitigate climate risk by addressing.
stormwater, which results from major storms, which potentially could become more
frequent and intense due to climate change (B2)

4.3 Interactions with Stakeholders

Interactions with local stakeholders are necessary for businesses adapting to climate
change. Indeed, businesses rarely adapt in isolation. Rather, they develop contextual inter-
actions occurring in their operational and institutional environment (Canevari-Luzardo
et al., 2020).

4.3.1 Vagueness by the NSW Government

Support from government levels is important for businesses. Government levels should
provide policies, services, information, knowledge, and guidance for businesses (Klein &
Juhola, 2018; Klein et al., 2017). However, in Australia, this support is based on a range
of different, overlapping regulatory instruments (Waters et al., 2014) that are often vague
and inconsistent (McNicol, 2020; Nalau et al., 2015). This results in fragmented and uncer-
tain interactions between businesses and government levels, that increase the likelihood
for businesses in failing their CCA efforts (Mishra et al., 2020; Schaer & Kuruppu, 2018;
Waters et al., 2014).
In NSW, support offered to businesses is vague and fragmented because NSW govern-
ment departments have often different and competing goals (Fallon & Sullivan, 2014; For-
ino et al., 2018; Nalau et al., 2015). This makes CCA a difficult task for businesses. For
example, the lack of clear guidelines from the NSW government inhibited climate change
response in the construction sector (Hurlimann et al., 2018). According to SO1, working
for a NSW department that releases regulatory frameworks for and provides assistance to
the construction sector, climate change response is not part of the department’s mission:
[Climate change is] not something that’s directly specified… in our objectives as a
State Government agency. [We have] a particular area and set of objectives. We are
careful to avoid stepping into the territory of other State Government agencies… We
would feel far more comfortable leaving [climate change] in the hands of the Depart-
ment of Environment or the Office of Environment, being our… direct counterparts
in the more responsible agency. I mean times when for example, you inadvertently
stray into another government department’s territory and… they say, ‘Hang on a
minute, we’re looking after this’. And... that’s probably as it should be. (SO1)

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18550 G. Forino, J. von Meding

4.3.2 Twofold Support by City Councils for Implementing CCA​

Previous evidences report that City Councils in the selected case studies support local
stakeholders in CCA implementation (Forino et al., 2017, 2018). However, SO4 and
SO5 argue that City Councils have not “really been as active” in developing CCA poli-
cies that are suitable for, and accepted by, local businesses. B5 brings the example of
the interactions occurring between the local tourism sector and one of the City Councils
in the selected case studies. In Australia (March & Wilkinson, 2009) and the Hunter
Valley (Shiue & Matzarakis, 2011), partnerships between the tourism sector and City
Councils are key to promote a shared response to climate change. Working closely with
City Councils and other local stakeholders would have therefore motivated the tourism
sector to plan for and implement CCA; however, B5 argues that “achiev[ing]… align-
ment and participation between government and industries” is a “challenge for tour-
ism”. B5 makes the example of a destination management plan that was under develop-
ment by the City Council at the time of the interview. This plan should have guided the
local tourism sector in managing different tasks, including identifying suitable adaptive
strategies. However, the tourism sector and the City Council had limited collaboration
and poor communication. According to B5, the process for working on the destination
management plan should have been.
more participative… to align [the tourism] industry and government more closely….
[T]he alignment needs to improve to the point where the Council - and the process
the Council is doing [for] creating a destination management plan - needs to become
much more robust, because in becoming more robust it would naturally include a
climate change agenda. (B5)
Conversely, SO1 reports a positive example of a City Council supporting businesses.
SO1 claims that in comparison with the past, City Councils provide clearer requirements
for construction companies and incorporate CCA measures in development applications
(see also Forino et al., 2017). Accordingly,
…the main way that [adaptive measures] are addressed from our point of view is
when an individual development application is lodged with the council. [T]hey (the
developers) have to satisfy the council that…what they’re proposing is compatible
with the flooding diagrams… and … the modelling that council has. And that’s …
reflected in some of these buildings that we’re in today whereby.” (SO1)

4.3.3 Disclosure of Activities to Ensure Transparency with Local Communities

Transparency about operations and disclosure of commitment in climate change response

is an opportunity for businesses to engage with local stakeholders, to consolidate networks
and interactions (Stevenson & Seville, 2017; West, 2015), and to identify potentially suit-
able CCA options (Surminski et al., 2018). Transparency and disclosure are therefore
important also for Australian businesses (Bates et al., 2013; West & Brereton, 2013). B2
reveals that his business acknowledges “a very large range of stakeholders, from local
neighbours and residents to State government” and establishes frequent and “…proactive
relationships with all of them” by covering a range of topics. To disclose information and
communicate with stakeholders, the business develops a sustainability strategy that also
includes climate change and CCA. This strategy is based on.

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Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia:… 18551

[the] active engagement…that ranges from a conversation, inviting the community

to our meeting, reporting to the community on our performance and then also giving
them insights, giving them understanding of what they see as the risks. (B2)
The business promotes transparency and disclosure also through.
community meetings, newsletters to report performance publicly, annual sustainable
development report, as well as advertisement of business’ operation in a store in the
local market. (B2)

5 Discussion and Conclusions

By listening to experiences of businesses in three selected case studies of the Hunter Val-
ley, the paper illustrates the different ways businesses interpret climate change, implement
CCA, and interact with other stakeholders for responding to climate change. The paper
shows that some businesses are sceptical around climate change. This inhibits business
capacities to share common visions around CCA and climate-related threats. Conversely,
other businesses are aware on impact of climate change on their operations and assets.
Thanks to this awareness, these businesses make efforts to implement CCA. Businesses
integrate CCA into everyday operations and business continuity planning. The paper also
reveals that interactions exist between businesses and other stakeholders. The Australian
Government and the NSW State government provide vague support to businesses. Mean-
while, the interactions between some businesses and the City Councils are twofold; both
collaboration and poor coordination emerge. In addition, in some cases, businesses make
attempts of being transparent in disclosing information to local communities about their
operations and commitment to climate change.
While the paper portrays the complex scenario of businesses and CCA in the Hunter
Valley, climate change is a pressing challenge across diverse regions, institutions, and eco-
nomic sectors for the whole Australia. By applying a logic of generalization derived from
empirical observations in the selected cases studies (Bengtsson & Hertting, 2014), it can be
argued that the evidences presented and discussed here can reasonably occur across many
Australian regions. Therefore, unpacking this complexity for the selected case studies can
also provide useful indications for advancing policy and research agendas on CCA in the
whole Australia, and for supporting diverse stakeholders (including businesses) in the
development and implementation of concrete CCA actions (Pearce et al., 2018).
From a policy perspective, the paper can provide inputs for different economic sectors
to identify a set of CCA strategies that are most suitable for the nature of business and
the type of faced risk. Thanks to this, businesses can reflect upon internal and external
resources that are necessary to update their climate risk agenda and to improve governance
and communication strategies with local stakeholders. In addition, the paper can support
different government levels in understanding that businesses implement CCA and interact
in a relational space (Canevari-Luzardo et al., 2020). Therefore, businesses need institu-
tional and political interlocutors that are accountable for updated support, leadership, and
guidance (Agrawala et al., 2011; Kuruppu et al., 2015; Schneider, 2014). These reflections
are urgent for a country where CCA is delegated to local stakeholders (including busi-
nesses) that often have limited capacities, political agency, and leadership to take climate
change action (Nalau et al., 2015, 2021).

13
18552 G. Forino, J. von Meding

From a research perspective, the paper can represent a useful background to move for-
ward theoretical and empirical research on the investigated topics. Research is necessary
to portray a more comprehensive picture of the CCA landscape in the private sector (Sur-
minski, 2013). Research is also needed to explore the multi-scale and multi-level relational
spaces where businesses operate to respond to climate change. Finally, research is required
to explore the variegated ways through which businesses understand, experience and
implement CCA, and how these ways can be influential for climate-related risk agendas of
other stakeholders.
It is worthwhile mentioning that the paper has three main limitations. First, the limited
number of interviews implies that primary data collection might not have been able to iden-
tify other relevant CCA interpretations, implementations and interactions existing across
other local stakeholders in the selected case studies. Second, across participating busi-
nesses and organizations no distinction has been made on the base of some of the factors
that can influence business capacities for CCA such as size, resource, or location. Third,
the paper did not assess the effectiveness on the ground of the implemented CCA strate-
gies. Notwithstanding these limitations, it can be cautiously claimed that the paper reveals
important climate change-related issues for businesses across Australia and can support the
implementation of CCA in an integrated and coordinated manner across sectors and actors.

Acknowledgements The Authors would like to thank research participants for their time and availability,
and the reviewers for their comments that contributed to improve the quality of the paper. Giuseppe Forino
received financial support from a PhD scholarship by the University of Newcastle.

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