Our thinking

Climate-ready?

11 November, 2022

We’re excited to be able to share the recently-launched Aviva Climate-Ready Index, which we have been developing with Aviva over the last few months, and which hit the headlines this week. The Index is a framework to measure how some of the world’s most influential countries (specifically the G7 nations and Ireland) are progressing on climate mitigation, resilience and adaptation – both in their own countries and in terms of their global contribution.

Our definition of being more ‘climate-ready’ is focused on reducing carbon emissions to limit further damage to the climate, and adapting how we live and work to protect ourselves from the negative effects of climate change. This readiness applies both at a local level and as part of the global community. The Climate-Ready Index assesses eleven key measures of ‘climate-readiness’ which include reducing emissions, supporting biodiversity, building climate-resilient infrastructure, and helping communities and small businesses prepare for the impact of climate change.

The countries are ranked on their performance to encourage a long-term race to the top (the UK comes third this year, behind Germany and France). But the real purpose of the Index is to bring together important climate change topics that are usually talked about in unhelpful siloes, and present them in a way that generates discussion, debate and ultimately action.

The reality is that no country can ever be completely ‘climate-ready’ – climate change is worsening, our understanding of its complexities is increasing, and the need for global collaboration on these issues is increasingly evident. We share Aviva’s hope that this Index can play a role in encouraging us all to take the urgent action that is needed to create a better future.

By David Lourie