Companies preparing for climate risks
Climate risks are already changing the everyday operations of businesses. What does climate risk management look like in practice? Three companies in the Päijät-Häme region show how businesses can prepare for these risks and even turn change into a competitive advantage.
Kuvaaja: Juha-Pekka Huotari / Lahden kaupunki
Climate risks are already visible in the daily operations of companies in Lahti and Päijät-Häme. They affect businesses across all sectors and sizes in one way or another. The operating environment is constantly changing due to climate conditions, costs, and customer behaviour. Alongside risks, changing weather conditions can also create new opportunities for example, in service demand, the development of production methods, and improvements in customer experience.
Together with three companies from Päijät-Häme, we identified and assessed their climate risks and explored ways to adapt. The participating organisations were the Pajulahti campus of the Sports Institute of Three Campuses, the horticultural company Kaijansinkon Puutarha, and the brewery and distillery Teerenpeli. Weather and environmental conditions affect all of their operations, but the level of preparedness and the practices used differ. All three companies respond to changing conditions, but Teerenpeli in particular has already moved toward systematic and proactive risk management.
The examples from these three companies demonstrate that anticipating climate risks is worthwhile.
At Pajulahti, environmental conditions are part of quality and equality
The Sports Institute of Three Campuses operates broadly in the field of sports and is Finland’s only Paralympic training centre. Climate conditions are central to its activities: safe training and equal opportunities to participate must be ensured even in changing conditions.
The most significant climate risk for Pajulahti is the increasing frequency of heatwaves. High temperatures interfere with training, slow recovery, and can even pose health risks in in extreme cases. Cooling solutions require long-term investments. So far, preparedness has mainly been reactive, but the need for more proactive planning has now been recognised.
Pajulahti’s example illustrates that climate risks are not only economic or technical issues. They are directly connected to customer experience and safety, which are two fundamental pillars of the organisation’s operations. Managing climate risks is therefore also a guarantee of quality and competitiveness.
At Kaijansinkon Puutarha, the season is short and weather-sensitive
Kaijansinkon Puutarha, which grows summer flowers, operates strongly on nature’s terms. The sales season lasts only a few weeks, so even small changes in temperature or humidity can directly affect plant health, workload, and cash flow. Customer behaviour is also closely tied to weather conditions. On a pleasantly warm day, the garden centre fills with customers, but rain or extreme heat drives people elsewhere. In such a short season, a lost week cannot be recovered.
Recent heatwaves have made the work increasingly demanding. Temperatures inside greenhouses can rise to 40 degrees Celsius, pushing both plants and workers to their limits. One of the biggest and most surprising risks, however, comes from winter. When freezing periods become shorter or disappear altogether, pests survive the winter and create new problems in the greenhouses.
However, Kaijansinkon Puutarha is not waiting passively to see how the weather conditions will develop. The company is already making progress toward shifting from reactive responses to proactive climate risk management. In practice, this means systematically collecting environmental data from greenhouses, developing irrigation solutions, and directing investments based on identified risks. Their example shows that adapting to climate change does not necessarily require extensive plans or complex processes. Often it is built on small, practical and effective decisions whose benefits become visible in the near future.
At Teerenpeli, climate risks appear in supply chains
Teerenpeli’s most significant climate risks are found at the beginning of its supply chains. The company cannot directly influence weather conditions, but it must anticipate how they affect raw materials and supplies. One concrete example concerns the barrels used by the distillery. Some of them are imported from Spain, where extreme temperatures have caused barrels to crack already during transport. This is a clear climate risk that directly affects production.
Teerenpeli evaluates supplier options from different countries, strengthens contracts to prepare for supply disruptions, and assesses material choices with a long-term perspective. A proactive, agile approach ensures the continuity of production even as the global operating environment rapidly changes.
At Teerenpeli, it is understood that climate risks are part of a broader web of uncertainties involving politics, markets, and global logistics. The company’s example shows that managing climate risks is, above all, about recognising early signals of change and identifying alternatives.
Climate risks cannot be avoided, but they can be managed. That is why anticipation is a company’s strongest asset.
How can companies get started?
If you want to explore how climate risks relate to your own operations, a good starting point is the recent climate risk assessment guide prepared by the University of Helsinki. The guide provides clear steps for companies to independently identify and assess their risks.
The guide (in Finnish) is available here (helsinki.fi)
