The Agenda for Corporate Climate Adaptation
Tuesday, October 14, 2026
Check In & Welcome Coffee
Opening
FOCUS 1: CLIMATE REALISM: THE RISKS ARE REALITY
To establish a shared understanding that physical climate risks are no longer future scenarios but operating conditions. This session creates intellectual clarity and emotional readiness for strategic adaptation.
Beyond optimism: What the climate trajectory & tipping points really mean
What +3°C costs your business – A corporate reality check
The Handelsblatt in conversation with
Seen from Space, Felt in the Balance Sheet: What Satellite Data Reveals About Your Physical Risk
Coffee Break & Networking
Audience Activation
- What emotion dominates your organization’s response to climate risk?
- Where do you still sense avoidance or paralysis?
From climate targets to adaptation action – What politics can and cannot deliver
The Handelsblatt in conversation with Politics and Industrie
and further speakers
The adaptation market is here – Who’s capturing it? A global innovation outlook
Adaptation Tech Award
Lunch
FOCUS 2: ADAPTATION IN PRACTICE – FROM PILOTS TO SCALE
Move from awareness to operational excellence. Showcase governance, supply chain, technology and valuation approaches that are already being implemented.
Introduction
Insight Sessions
Governance & Strategy Embedding adaptation into leadership, KPIs and decision structures TRACK B
Operations, Assets & Supply Chains Protecting assets and operations under physical stress TRACK C
Technology, Design & Investment Scaling adaptation solutions TRACK D
IMPACT & VALUATION (Adaptation exchange) Making resilience investable
Governance & Strategy Making adaptation a board-level responsibility 14:30 – 15:20
Operations, Assets & Supply Chains When climate hits operations: Stress-Testing sites, suppliers and logistics 14:30 – 15:20
Technology, Design & Investment How Climate Resilience Becomes a Valuation Factor 14:30 – 15:20
IMPACT & VALUATION The Resilience Assessment standard 14:30 – 15:20 Mehr Informationen
The Resilience Assessment standard
How it can help you to focus on the right priorities and align your adaptation goals with your stakeholders. Get to know our tested tool and use it for your organization, too.
Session Host:
Governance & Strategy KPIs, incentives & accoun- tability for adaptation 15:20 – 16:10
Operations, Assets & Supply Chains Heat, flood, drought: How insurers quantify what companies underestimate 15:20 – 16:10
Technology, Design & Investment Resilience by design: How manufacturers are turning climate risk into design intelligence 15:20 – 16:10
IMPACT & VALUATION The Business Case for Adaptation 15:20 – 16:10 Mehr Informationen
The Business Case for Adaptation
How to convince your CFO to invest more and why (it´s about cash flow). Get to know our tested tool and use it for your organization, too.
Session Host:
Governance & Strategy Resilience governance: How leading companies build institutional climate readiness 16:50 – 17:40
Operations, Assets & Supply Chains Climate risk in global supply chains: From shipping routes to social resilience 16:50 – 17:40
Technology, Design & Investment Stop Talking Climate – Start Talking Risk: How to Get Adaptation onto the Decision-Making Agenda 16:50 – 17:40
IMPACT & VALUATION The Adaptation Stack 16:50 – 17:40 Mehr Informationen
The Adaptation Stack
Build your adaptation solutions portfolio with impact – with >250 solutions at your fingertips.
Get to know our tested tool and use it for your organization, too.
Session Host:
Common ground – What are the patterns of successful corporate adaptation measures
Track facilitators, incl. Adaptation Exchange representative
Doomsters´ Drinks, Dinner & Dance
Wednesday, October 15, 2026
Check In & Welcome Coffee
Reflection on Day 1
FOCUS 3: THE ADAPTATION ECONOMY – WHERE CAPITAL MEETS CLIMATE
Finance is the decisive lever for climate adaptation — yet capital is not moving at the scale required. This block explores how investment frameworks, public-private partnerships and financial market dynamics need to shift to turn adaptation into an economic opportunity.
Planning for a world that doesn’t exist yet: KPIs for the Climate-Adapted company
The money has to move: Why finance is the bottleneck of climate adaptation
Building Resilience at Scale – Is the Private Sector Actually Delivering?
The Handelsblatt in conversation with
Coffee break & Networking
The Economics of Adaptation: Key Findings from the Adaptation Economy Index
The Handelsblatt in conversation
Making the Adaptation Economy tangible: What It Takes Beyond Capital
The Handelsblatt in conversation with
Designing the Building Blocks of a Future Resilient World
(Structure: 10 min introduction, 30 min moderated discussion)
Moderation
+ 6 topic moderators
What the Corporate Sector Brings to COP
Format: All 6 moderators report back
Moderation
Award Ceremony
Wrap up / Reflection
The Handelsblatt editorial team with Daniel Schmitz-Remberg
