14. – 15. October 2026

From Climate Risk to Future Strategy.

Name: Corporate Climate Adaptation 2026
Start: 2026-10-14T09:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-15T15:00:00+02:00
Location: Handelsblatt Media Group

A factory slows production because the river's cooling water has grown too warm. A logistics route fails because water levels are too low. Employees work slower because the heat on the factory floor has become barely tolerable. An investment committee questions which sites will still be economically viable in ten years.

This is not a future scenario. This is today. What companies are experiencing right now has a name: climate adaptation. Not a sustainability project – but an operational reality that directly affects productivity, supply chains, capital allocation, and competitiveness.

The Handelsblatt Conference Corporate Climate Adaptation brings together decision-makers from industry, finance, start-ups, academia, and policy – to discuss how organizations can manage the climate pressure that is already here. And how to turn it into strategic opportunity.

Speaker Announcements

Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström Director – Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Christian Brüchle Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – WELEDA AG

Prof. Dr. Caroline Rudzinski Professor of Strategic Management – HWR Berlin

Dr. Andreas K. Gruber Chief Sustainability Officer – DKB

Matthias Beer Head of Climate – Siemens

Prof. Dr. Christian Geiß Head of Research Group Georisks – German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Resilience is not insurance. It's an investment.

The companies that invest in resilience today – in robust sites, climate-proof supply chains, adapted processes, and forward-looking risk models – are the ones that will be able to deliver tomorrow, when others cannot. Resilience is not a cost factor. It is the difference between standstill and the ability to act.

At the same time, a new market is emerging. Companies developing solutions in cooling, water management, resilient infrastructure, and risk modeling are not just building protection – they are building competitive advantage and opening new business opportunities.

The focus is on what matters: concrete measures that can be integrated into corporate strategy, operational processes, governance, and investment decisions.

The question is no longer whether climate risks affect your business. The question is whether you see them for what they are: the starting point for your next investment decision.

Program

Live Roundtable

We offer a personal and open forum for exchange between experts, local decision-makers, and thought leaders in climate adaptation. The aim is to address relevant perspectives early on, openly discuss current challenges, and gain concrete impetus for the future.

Learn more

Webinar

The question is how we can work effectively during heat waves and maintain our operations under increasingly hot conditions. In this webinar, we will discuss how companies can assess, prioritize, and effectively manage these risks.

Learn more

Your added value

Practical insights from leading companies

Learn how organizations integrate climate adaptation into governance, strategy, and operational processes.

Concrete solutions and technologies

Discover innovations and startups developing scalable solutions for climate resilience.

Strategic Perspectives from the Financial and Political Worlds

Understand how investors, insurers, and political actors are shaping the emerging adaptation economy.

High-caliber networking

Network with leaders, sustainability experts, investors, and climate resilience professionals.

Who is this conference for?

Corporate Climate Adaptation is designed for leaders who treat climate risk not as a reporting obligation, but as an operational and strategic reality. The conference brings together decision-makers with real budget responsibility – from the sectors where climate adaptation is already determining competitiveness today.

Industry & Manufacturing

COOs, site managers, production leads, and supply chain executives are under direct climate pressure: heat curtails output, extreme weather disrupts supply chains, and sites lose economic viability. The conference provides concrete tools to translate physical climate risks into operational decisions – from site assessment to climate-proof sourcing.

Financial Sector & Insurance

Chief Risk Officers, climate risk managers at banks, underwriters, and asset managers focused on real assets are facing a new reality: climate risks are reshaping creditworthiness, insurability, and portfolio valuations. Here they learn how leading companies translate resilience into financial metrics – and how capital is being directed toward adaptation investments.

Energy, Infrastructure & Water Management

Those responsible for grid and site planning, infrastructure investors, and regulatory teams are shaping the physical backbone of the economy. For them, climate adaptation is not a side topic – it is a core task. Which sites will still be viable in ten years? Which investments secure long-term resilience? The conference provides clear orientation for exactly these decisions.

Governance, Strategy & Sustainability

Chief Strategy Officers, heads of corporate development, and sustainability leaders with direct influence over CAPEX and operations – those who don't just communicate climate adaptation, but embed it into corporate strategy and investment planning. The conference shows how resilience becomes a strategic competitive advantage.

Solution Providers & Start-ups

Founders and CEOs from cooling, water management, resilient infrastructure, and climate risk modelling meet their core target audience here: decision-makers with budget authority who are actively looking for scalable solutions right now. The conference is the platform to forge partnerships and unlock new business opportunities.

A CFO has to balance the P&L of today with the economic resilience of tomorrow.

Christian Brüchle Chief Financial Officer (CFO), WELEDA AG

The climate signals are unambiguous, the economic costs are staggering, and yet the response is significantly lagging.

Richard Youngman CEO, Cleantech Group

Corporate climate adaptation means embedding risk and resilience into strategy, governance, and decision-making. Not outsourcing it to a sustainability report.

Daniel Mazuré Head of Environment & Reporting, UN Global Compact Network

Taking action from the perspective of desirable futures turns climate risk into strategic advantage.

Prof. Dr. Caroline Rudzinski Professor of Strategic Management, HWR Berlin

Health begins with the air we breathe, the water we drink, the plants we eat, bearable temperatures, and peaceful coexistence. All of these life foundations are in danger, and none of them will get better on their own. We don't need to save „the climate“ – we need to save ourselves!

Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen Doctor, science journalist, and foundation founder, Healthy Earth – Healthy People

Companies that invest in sustainable transformation today not only secure their own future viability but also unlock new business potential. Transformation is not a cost factor, but a business case.

Christiane Rudolph Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), DEG Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH

Climate change is not a distant threat, but a current challenge – and at the same time, an opportunity to create resilient solutions together that protect people, businesses, and our environment.

Prof. Dr. Matthias von Harten Team Lead Climate Resilience Germany, Zurich Resilience Solutions, Germany

Climate adaptation deals with current problem symptoms, while climate mitigation addresses long-term root causes. Understanding the consequences of their different natures, as well as managing potential conflicting demands, is key to successfully integrating corporate climate adaptation and mitigation measures.

Prof. Dr. Nadine Pratt Professor of International Management and Sustainability, FOM University of Applied Sciences

Climate adaptation is the next frontier of corporate sustainability. While companies have spent the last decade focusing on decarbonization, the coming decade will be defined by how successfully businesses build resilience into their operations, supply chains and business models.

Daniel Schneiders Director Climate & Water, Bayer AG

In a world already affected by the impacts of climate change, we must urgently develop sustainable strategies to make our business more resilient.

Helen Kappel Senior Sustainability Manager, Climate Risk, Jungheinrich AG

At LIXIL, we believe climate adaptation starts with innovation, both in product innovation and in our own manufacturing processes. As our products touch the lives of more than a billion people every day, LIXIL has a unique responsibility in creating an adaptive and resilient future.

Philipp Lüders Head of Business Unit B2C, LIXIL Europe / GROHE

Given the increasing physical climate risks, adaptation must be brought more into focus – and this requires close cooperation between business, politics, and the financial sector.

Viktoriya Brand CSO/Group Sustainability, Deutsche Bank AG

Catalyzing private capital into adaptation solution investments will remain unattractive until climate risk is correctly priced, policy distortions are removed, and expectation lags are shortened. Overcoming these barriers is the task of creating adaptation markets and, more broadly, economies.