Our thinking

Climate-Ready 3.0

8 November, 2024

This week, Aviva launched its third annual Climate-Ready Index as part of its ongoing role supporting the UK, and the rest of the G7 and Ireland, to become more climate-ready (by which we mean the extent to which a country is doing what is necessary to both limit further damage to the climate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change, both locally and globally).  We worked closely with the Aviva team to create the Climate-Ready Index back in 2022 and were delighted to continue our partnership highlighting the opportunities for positive change at a global scale for this year’s report. 

The Index (and the concept of “climate-ready”) brings together the various challenges of climate change – often treated separately – including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting industry, infrastructure and lifestyles to climatic events, protecting nature, and supporting businesses and society through the transition. 

This year, the report features a deep dive on the fast-moving topics of nature and climate adaptation, exploring why protecting and restoring nature and adapting to climate change are critical to climate-readiness. From Sheffield’s Sustainable urban drainage system to Yokohama’s seagrass restoration scheme, we examine what’s working well, the barriers to success and the lessons that can be learned.   

The good news is we are seeing more action and faster rates of improvement, as countries are transitioning towards a more climate-ready world. Germany retains its top position extending its lead from the rest of the pack. Despite being the second-biggest improver, the USA remains last—a position with which it will probably become very familiar considering recent events. And a positive story emerges for business – companies are taking more climate-ready action than they were 12 months ago. This year, across all countries, 50% of businesses surveyed have a structured plan with targets and actions to reduce carbon emission and 53% of businesses are taking action to protect operations against extreme weather.  

But we still have a long way to go. This year the UK lost its top spot in both “emission and mitigation” and “adaptation implementation” due to changes in climate policy over the last 12 months, and national adaptation plans which fall short in defining coherent, specific and measurable goals. 

We hope the findings and practical examples included in the report encourage countries to go further faster at a time where collective action is needed most.  

By Budd Nicholson