An awkward thing about the company Ben Andrews founded is that its name is a little out-of-date.
Adapt40 is the bespoke adaptation consultancy he set up in 2021, which is today engaged in projects all over the world: from Dartmoor in the UK to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean.
The ‘40’ in ‘Adapt40’ comes from 2040: the year in which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted human-induced global warming would breach 1.5°C. That forecast was made back in 2018. Now, scientists believe this threshold could be crossed within the next five years.
This is bad news for humanity, as it means we have even less time to prepare and protect ourselves from the extreme weather and slow-onset climate disasters that 1.5°C entails. But it has also injected fresh urgency into Adapt40’s work.
On today’s episode, Ben talks about his career to date and unpacks the short, but intense, history of his consultancy. He then discusses Adapt40’s “participatory approach” to building resilience with local partners and explains why adaptation is more about collaboration than competition.
He also gets into the company’s secret sauce — its competence with data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) — and tells us what he really thinks about the use of AI in adaptation planning.
Programming Note: Climate Proofers is taking a break this August — but will be back with a bang in September.
Listen below, download from the Podcasts page on Climate Proof, or tune in via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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We talk about:
👉 Ben’s career journey through the development and engineering sectors to launching a niche consultancy focused on climate adaptation and loss and damage
👉 How Adapt40’s data-savviness adds value to clients from around the world
👉 The challenges of breaking into the donor-funded ecosystem, and the importance of partnerships over competition
👉 Ben’s concerns about sloppy use of AI in adaptation report writing and data analysis
👉 Why adaptation is about the marriage of data, tech, and “ground truth” insights
Thanks for listening!
Louie Woodall
Editor
