Our mission at the Climate Action Business Association (CABA) is to help address the climate crisis by organizing local business leaders to be more effective advocates for and stewards of climate action within their businesses and communities, as well as at the state, national, and even international levels.
Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of guest opinions about fostering environmental stewardship. The series is coordinated by ACES, the Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards.
Our changing climate is causing a higher frequency of extreme weather events such as storms, hurricanes, heat waves, and floods – all of which can have serious impacts on the employees, operations, and finances of local businesses.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges businesses around the world will need to tackle in the coming years. It is also however, one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time. Taking action on climate change pushes us to reimagine a more sustainable world where striving for a better way to do business becomes the norm.
Our mission at the Climate Action Business Association (CABA) is to help address the climate crisis by organizing local business leaders to be more effective advocates for and stewards of climate action within their businesses and communities, as well as at the state, national, and even international levels.
CABA is a project of Climate XChange, our parent organization, that focuses on research, media, and advocacy for smart and ambitious climate policy. Through this partnership we are able to provide businesses with the resources needed to better understand how policies and business decisions can lead to a sustainable future. We equip business leaders with science-based research and innovative tools to take action on the climate crisis through adaptation and mitigation avenues, and provide avenues for stakeholders to leverage their voice as influencers in their community.
Our Businesses Acting Rising Seas (BARS) campaign is an award-winning program that educates local businesses about the impacts of climate change and prepares them for impending natural disasters. We have engaged with 900-plus businesses in more than 20 communities through this program along the coast in Massachusetts, including Newburyport. The campaign provides resources and critical data to local businesses, and it gives them the tools necessary to be resilient and protected in the face of rising seas and extreme weather. CABA’s Small Business Resilience Guide offers small businesses ways to protect themselves and steps to become more resilient to these global challenges.
The Newburyport Small Business Resilience Guide is available on our website at https://cabaus.org/businesses-acting-on-rising-seas/
In addition to building resilient local business communities, we deploy trained teams to talk to local businesses about how they are preparing for climate change impacts and together we explored the resources and tools businesses need to better adapt and become more resilient. We have used this research to develop a comprehensive report to get to the heart of this issue and offer solutions to take action and prepare. You can download the report at: https://cabaus.org/businesses-acting-on-rising-seas/
In striving toward a more secure and resilient future, we must acknowledge the vulnerabilities of our local businesses when it comes to climate impacts. Our communities are at the foundation of our economic vitality and can be the key to increased resilience in the face of climate change.
CABA’s programming and engagement is made possible through donations and contributions to our Tesla Carbon Raffle. If you are interested in learning more about our work and becoming involved visit https://climate-xchange.org/donate/#For-businesses or at https://carbonraffle.org.
Kristin Kelleher, the programs director of the Climate Action Business Association, grew up in Newbury. She can be reached at Kristin.Kelleher@cabaus.org.
This column was coordinated by ACES YOUTH CORPS member, Eleni Protopapas. To share any comments or questions, please send an email to acesnewburyport@gmail.com. To learn more about ACES and our Youth Leadership Initiative, please view our WEBSITE – https://www.aces-alliance.org
