Adaptation is rising up the climate agenda, and for Australian businesses, it represents more than a risk management exercise. In this blog, we share a sneak peek of some pressing climate adaptation issues to be discussed at the upcoming UNiting Business LIVE Australia Conference, from global economic inequality to challenges faced by regional communities.   

Adaptation isn’t just damage control 

Climate change is no longer a future risk. It’s a present cost. According to UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report, by 2050, climate-related extreme events are projected to cost the global economy between US$1.7 and 3.1 trillion annually. For Australian businesses, the question is no longer whether to act, but how. 

When we talk about climate action, mitigation tends to dominate the conversation. It describes measures to combat the advancement of climate change itself, for example, by reducing emissions.  

But adaptation, the process of adjusting to the actual and expected effects of climate change, is just as critical. And it’s where significant business opportunities lie. 

Adaptation is not just about minimising harm. It’s about strategic repositioning: building resilience into supply chains, developing new tools and technologies, and identifying where climate-driven demand is growing.  

Businesses that move early will be better placed to capture that value. 

Where the opportunities are 

Australia’s National Adaptation Plan highlights that effective private sector adaptation investment will span traditional built infrastructure, as well as novel nature-based solutions, social impact investments, and innovation. 

Agriculture is already leading the way. Precision farming technologies are expected to transform how farmers monitor crops, allocate resources, and make decisions, with emerging research into the role of AI assistance. Australia’s agriculture industry has a reputation for innovation. It represents a growing commercial market for adaptation tools and services. 

Supply chain resilience is another front. Climate disruptions cascade: when a primary industry or logistics network is hit, healthcare, infrastructure, and other interconnected sectors absorb the shock too. Businesses that invest in supply chain resilience aren’t just protecting their own operations. They are also strengthening national economic resilience. That broader value is increasingly recognised, and increasingly financeable. 

Infrastructure is well-recognised as a central component of adaptation and community resilience. Climate-proofing critical assets, like transport, energy, water, represents substantial investment opportunities, particularly as governments look to the private sector to co-invest. 

The blended finance opportunity 

One of the most significant emerging opportunities is blended finance: combining public and private capital to fund adaptation projects that would otherwise struggle to attract investment. 

The challenge is real. Many adaptation projects, like coastal protection, urban heat reduction or community resilience programs, produce public goods that are difficult to commercialise. They tend to be localised, small in scale, and hard to replicate, limiting their attractiveness as a proposal for institutional investors. 

However, solutions are being developed to change this dynamic. Smaller projects could be bundled into investable portfolios. Clear project pipelines, transparent data, and defined roles for public and private capital all help investors model risk and return. The Australian Climate Finance Partnership under DFAT is already working in this space, and the National Adaptation Plan recommends a dedicated adaptation finance strategy be developed with Treasury to bring private investment to priority national projects. 

For businesses with capital to deploy and financial services firms seeking differentiated ESG-aligned investment products, this is a developing market worth watching closely. 

The equity dimension 

It would be insensitive to frame adaptation purely as an opportunity without acknowledging the equity dimension. Low-income households in high-risk areas face rising insurance premiums they can’t afford. Regional and remote communities face compounding climate risks, including coverage gaps, dependence on single industries, and long supply chains. These risks have disproportionate impacts on small businesses. 

Globally, the gap is starker. The UN Environment Program’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025 finds that public finance flows to developing countries represent only one twelfth of their needs by 2035. Many of these countries have contributed the least to climate change but are among the most exposed to its consequences. Debt-financed adaptation risks creating an ‘adaptation investment trap’, whereby the growing prevalence of climate disasters increases the indebtedness of vulnerable states. This forms a vicious cycle, making it more difficult to invest in essential adaptation measures to prepare for future adverse events.  

What comes next 

The businesses that will lead on adaptation are those that treat it as a strategic question now by identifying their physical and transition risks, mapping the opportunities that emerge from climate-driven shifts in demand, and positioning themselves to participate in blended finance structures that are beginning to take shape. 

To explore more on this topic, join us at the UNiting Business LIVE Australia Conference on 13-14 May in Sydney for the deep-dive session Stepping into the adaptation gap: Ambitious business action for global impact. Panellists will cover: 

• Takeaways from Australia’s National Adaptation Plan for businesses 

• Approaches to close the adaptation funding gap, and the private sector’s role in Australia and abroad 

• Experiences of vulnerable communities, and how best we can support their adaptation efforts 

Featured speakers: 

• Nicole Mitchell, Branch Head, National Adaptation Policy Branch, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water 

• Mark Siebentritt, Global Practice Lead, Climate & Nature, Edge Impact 

• Beck Dawson, Practitioner in Residence, Henry Halloran Urban & Regional Research Initiative 

• Dan Wilcock, Head of Sustainability Governance, UN Global Compact Network Australia (Moderator) 

*Authors: Ashley Beyer, Sustainable Governance Intern; Dan Wilcock, Head of Sustainability Governance.

UNiting Business LIVE Australia 2026 

In 2026, Australia will take centre stage globally as it assumes the Presidency for Negotiations at COP31, placing Australian business at the heart of international climate decision-making. As governments set the direction, the private sector will be critical in turning ambition into action—on climate, nature and resilience.  

UNiting Business LIVE Australia is a key platform for shaping business priorities ahead of COP31, aligning leadership with global goals, and ensuring Australian business voices drive credible, solutions-focused outcomes. 

 👉  Discover our full program and speaker lineup. 

Sign up for updates