About 60 per cent of Canadian businesses say they have been impacted by the unprecedented number of extreme weather events this year.
This emerges from a new study by KPMG in Canada.
A study by the company found widespread impacts on Canadian small and medium-sized businesses from raging wildfires, devastating storms, floods and heat domes. The KPMG Private Enterprise Business Survey showed that impacts to business operations ranged from damaged assets and disrupted supply chains to increased costs and insurance claims. More than half of small and medium-sized businesses experienced a significant increase in their overall costs and 44 percent experienced a direct loss in revenue.
“Our survey shows that climate-related disasters are having a devastating impact on lives, livelihoods and the economy,” said Doron Telem, National ESG Leader at KPMG in Canada. “An alarming number of businesses – almost six in 10 – have been affected by extreme weather events, and the year is not over yet. A changing climate means companies must make climate risks a priority to address the costly reality of being caught unprepared for the future.”
Key survey results:
59 percent of Canadian SMEs say they have been “directly affected” by extreme weather events
51 percent experienced disruptions in their supply chain or interrupted supply chains
45 percent say their facilities were damaged, such as a store, factory, etc.
41 percent had to relocate their operations or move to other facilities
54 percent say their costs have increased significantly
44 percent suffered direct losses in sales
44 percent say that their employees were also directly affected
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