Drought, Hurricane Bigger Threat to World’s Top Companies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-16/drought-hurricane-bigger-threat-to-world-s-top-companies.html

Drought, hurricanes and rising seas are becoming more significant threats to the world’s biggest companies and the risk is accelerating, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Companies planning for various threats related to climate change say they’re grappling now with about 45 percent of the potential risks, or will be within five years, according to a report issued today by the London-based non-profit group. That’s up from 2011, when members of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index expected 26 percent of the potential risks to affect them within five years.

The results show that climate change is having a measurable impact on business operations, and that many companies expect it to increase costs or hinder sales.

“Significant costs are already being incurred,” Tom Carnac, president of CDP North America, said in a phone interview yesterday. “It’s not just about making plans for the future, it’s about having to change what they do today.”

About 60 companies disclosed risks resulting from the planet’s rapidly changing environment. These included buildings destroyed by hurricanes, rising costs for raw materials, increasing insurance premium, slowing demand for cold-weather clothing and higher winter heating expenses.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) said sales slipped as much as 7 percent after floods in Thailand in 2011 led to a shortage in disc-drive components.

Waste Management Inc. said both flooding and drought affect the rate of organic decay at landfills, driving up the cost of collecting landfill gas.

An Indian man carries water as he walks on a dry pond on the outskirts of eastern Bhubaneswar on April 28, 2014.