Business Climate Action Program
Advancing climate planning and action among coastal businesses in the Gulf of Maine.
The Business Climate Action Program (BCAP) works with small and medium enterprises to identify industry- and location-specific risks of climate change. We collaboratively develop strategies that empower businesses to reduce carbon emissions and improve their resilience — while maintaining a focus on the long-term success of the business.
Program Goals:
- Work with individual businesses and industry sectors that drive the coastal community economies in the Gulf of Maine to identify climate related risks and opportunities.
- Collaboratively develop adaptation strategies that build climate resilience for both frontline operations and throughout supply chains.
- Work with businesses and industries to comply with emergent Greenhouse Gas (GHG) disclosure requirements, identify GHG reduction strategies, and understand the costs and benefits associated with implementing them.
- Connect individual businesses and industry sectors with the financial and technical resources that reduce the barriers to implementing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
BCAP Projects
Explore the different ways in which we work to support coastal businesses.
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![Climate Planning for the Private Sector]()
Climate Planning for the Private Sector
We work with businesses to increase operational resilience, decrease Greenhouse Gas emissions, and mobilize finance to ensure the region’s coastal businesses can continue to thrive …
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![Understanding Saltwater Intrusion]()
Understanding Saltwater Intrusion
We are studying how climate-related changes in coastal water salinity affects aquaculture businesses and coastal working lands — and what they can do to respond.
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![Solar Power and the Aquaculture Industry]()
Solar Power and the Aquaculture Industry
This project envisions a new solution by partnering with farmers and solar experts to conceptualize — and develop — a market for cost-effective, self-contained solar …
Small and medium businesses make up the vast majority of the private sector, accounting for 99.9% of all business entities and employing 46.8% of the United States workforce. In Maine, where the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, 56.8% of the workforce is employed by small businesses. While Maine’s 5,000 miles of tidally-influenced coastline provides ample opportunity for the growth and vitality of ocean-related industries, it also presents a host of emergent climate-related challenges—such as sea level rise, warming waters, ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms, species shifts, etc.—on top of numerous other social, economic, and environmental stressors. For coastal businesses, adapting to these changes and capitalizing upon these opportunities is essential to remain competitive and ensure the long-term success of these enterprises. The Climate Center’s Business Climate Action Program works with individual coastal businesses and ocean-related industry sectors to plan for climate change in a way that improves resilience, reduces GHG emissions, and supports business success.
