Climate change is no longer a distant future problem; it is a pressing issue affecting the environment, and therefore human lives, in significant ways. We don’t have to go very long before the next unusual weather event makes it to the news. 

So, while I’d gladly forsake my neighbour’s cat, and all of his nine lives, to the weather gods for some snow in India as this year’s summer threatens to melt the earth with weeks of sweltering, unforgiving heat that’s far worse than previous years, my entirely self-serving thought helps bring into focus the issue: climate change is taking a toll and the results of such alterations in climate may be closer to us, and more immediate than many naysayers would like to admit. 

No surprise then that climate change can affect our work too, and at a scale that impacts large swathes of populations. As business organizations and workplaces face the impacts of climate change, human resource professionals have a unique opportunity to play a strategic role in driving climate change adaptation and sustainability practices.