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SME Adaptation Challenge - ClimateWise
Climate Connect Aotearoa has collaborated with business and government entities to develop ClimateWise - a platform featuring targeted online resources to help small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) plan for and adapt to climate change, improving resilience and business continuity for the Tāmaki Makaurau region.
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Why is this initiative needed?
SMEs are vulnerable to climate change impacts like extreme weather, higher temperatures and flooding. In early 2023, two major weather disasters affecting the Auckland region resulted in 7,693 insurance claims by businesses, costing around $670 million.
While big companies and the public sector have regulations and laws to guide them, SMEs face barriers in knowledge, capability and cost when it comes to climate action and business continuity planning. With 98.8 per cent of businesses in Auckland being SMEs, their resilience is crucial for the region's social and economic well-being.
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Our solution: a platform to support understanding and action
ClimateWise provides free, easy-to-understand online resources and support help SMEs prepare for climate-related disasters, manage risks, and explore how climate change adaptation could benefit their business in practical ways, like reducing costs, customer attraction, and supply chain stability. The platform includes expert videos, simple guidance, templates and other user-friendly resources—ensuring SMEs have the practical tools and knowledge to strengthen their climate resilience.
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Feature your business on ClimateWise!
Are you an SME with experience in managing the impacts of a climate event or adaptation planning? If you would like to volunteer your SME to be featured as a case study on the platform, we’d love to hear from you!
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What is Climate Connect Aotearoa's role in this project?
Climate Connect Aotearoa led the development of the adaptation platform and created all its content—including videos, templates, and other learning resources. We engaged widely to understand SME needs and collaborated with technical consultants Tonkin + Taylor. Through co-designed workshops with a diverse range of SMEs, including Māori and Pacific businesses, we developed the adaptation guidance and key messages that underpin ClimateWise.
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Project drivers
ClimateWise has been driven by Climate Connect Aotearoa’s core principles and focuses on the real needs of SMEs when preparing for climate change. We focus on projects, such as this one, that require partnerships and collaboration, and are demand-led and equitable. All our programmes deliver against Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s Climate Plan – in this case, by building knowledge and skills for climate action.
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