Climate change is a disruptor. Here's how to harness it for innovation.

Byline: Nigel Topping

Disruption can mean many different things to different people. To established business leaders, it can mean a threat to market share or an opportunity to adapt and retain a leading position into the future. To innovators and start-ups, it can be a ticket to creating new markets or re-writing the rules of an old one.

However, there's one growing disruptive trend that unites all companies, and can help unlock innovation and create the industries of the future. The need to act on climate change is the greatest potential cause of disruption faced by new and established businesses alike, and is also the greatest catalyst for innovation for those willing to harness it.

Sustainable business models have the potential to unlock $12 trillion in new market value, according to a report by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission.

Here are some examples of how companies are harnessing the power of disruptive innovation, as they grow new business opportunities and help to tackle climate change.

Harnessing the disruption of electric vehicles

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating rapidly. Automakers have already announced more than $150 billion in investments to achieve collective production targets of over 13 million EVs annually by around 2025. Businesses that rely on cars and trucks for their operations are also responding, by embracing the shift to find new ways of creating value.

Deutsche Post DHL, one of the world's largest mail and logistics companies, is harnessing the transition to EVs to unlock new growth potential, as well as achieving its bold target to cut logistics-related emissions to zero by the year 2050. The company designed and created its own electric delivery van through its subsidiary StreetScooter, which is now a leading producer of electric delivery vehicles and supplies companies across Europe.

Birgit Hensel, Vice President of Shared Value at DPDHL, said: "We find that ambitious [climate] targets create opportunities and uncover new business models. Our climate activities are not so much to minimize risk but to gain value."

DPDHL has committed to accelerate the transition to EVs as a founding member of the EV100 initiative, led by The Climate Group.

Elsewhere, Enel subsidiary eMotorWerks is using its network of 6,000 EV chargers in the US to form a virtual distributed battery that can provide storage directly to the grid and compete with incumbent power producers.

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