Embed action for a future-ready economy in core strategy  - Business in the Community

Embed action for a future-ready economy in core strategy 

FUTUREPROOFING BUSINESS RECOMMENDATION ONE

Embed action for a future-ready economy in core strategy 

Embed social inclusion, climate resilience and nature recovery into your business model, strategy and decision-making. 

About Futureproofing Business Resources

Table of Contents

Introduction

A future-ready economy is unlikely to be delivered through isolated projects or short-term initiatives alone. BITC’s Creating a Future Ready Economy report calls on businesses to recognise social inclusion, climate resilience and nature recovery within business models, so that responsible business is connected to core strategy rather than treated as a separate programme.1

Why does this matter for your business?

Futureproofing business is about whether businesses can continue to create value in a world shaped by climate disruption, nature loss, inequality, resource pressure and geopolitical instability. 

This is already a strategic business issue. The Climate Change Committee has warned that the UK’s preparations for climate change are inadequate, with adaptation progress too slow, stalled or moving in the wrong direction.2 

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from September 2025 found that 25% of businesses reported concern about the impact climate change may have on their business, while 71% had not assessed any of the climate risks they were asked about. The same ONS analysis reported that only 4% of businesses had a climate change strategy, 3% had a net zero or greenhouse gas emissions target, and 3% monitored nature or biodiversity-related risks.3

Embedding action for a future-ready economy into core strategy brings real business benefits. It can help leadership teams consider how climate resilience, nature recovery and social inclusion affect business models, investment choices, supply chains, workforce planning, products and services.1 

This also reflects the direction of emerging market expectations. The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommends that organisations disclose the effects of nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities on business model, value chain, strategy and financial planning where that information is material.4

Risks and opportunities

If future readiness is not part of business strategy, risks can sit in different teams without being properly managed. For example, property teams may be dealing with flood or overheating risks, procurement teams may be dealing with supplier disruption, and HR teams may be dealing with skills gaps, without these issues being considered together by senior leaders. 

These risks are already relevant to business planning: the Climate Change Committee has warned that the UK is not yet well prepared for climate impacts,2 and ONS data found that 71% of businesses had not assessed any of the climate risks they were asked about.3  

For an individual business, this could mean higher energy and insurance costs, disruption to sites during extreme weather, delays getting materials, loss of productivity during heatwaves, or being unprepared for new customer, investor or reporting expectations.5 

The opportunity is to spot these issues early and build them into normal business decisions.6 This can help businesses protect key sites, reduce waste and resource costs, plan for future skills needs, strengthen supplier relationships and identify products or services that customers will need in a changing economy. 

Actions by maturity level

The sections below bring together suggested actions and relevant resources for each maturity level, helping business understand what action may be needed and which BITC resources can support them. 

Adopting

At the adopting stage, organisations are building awareness, understanding the issue and identifying where to start. 

Suggested Actions

  • Build senior understanding of what a future-ready economy means for your organisation. 
  • Identify where climate, nature, social inclusion and resilience already appear in your strategy. 
  • Map the main risks and opportunities for your business model, operations and value chain. 
  • Start using existing BITC resources to build internal awareness and alignment. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business

Use as a simple starting point to understand the full range of issues that may affect future business resilience, including risk, resources, nature, skills, stakeholders, communities and reporting. 

  • Use if: You are starting out and need a plain-English overview of what a future-ready strategy should cover. 
  • What you’ll get: A seven-step checklist with practical short, medium and long-term actions that can be used by businesses at different stages of maturity.
  • How to use to create impact: Use Step 1 as a quick gap check with senior leaders: note what you already do, what is missing, and which two risks or opportunities should be explored first.
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Nature and Resilience Factsheet 

Demystifies key nature and resilience terms and explains how nature supports business and community resilience. 

  • Use if: You need a plain-English introduction to nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital.
  • What you’ll get: Definitions, examples of how nature provides resilience, and prompts to help teams understand nature-related risks.
  • How to use to create impact: Use as a pre-read for a leadership or cross-functional workshop; agree which terms matter most for your business.
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Circular Economy: Improving resilience and reducing emissions 

Introduces circular economy principles that can help reduce emissions, waste and resource pressure. 

  • Use if: You need a quick explainer on circular economy concepts, lifecycle phases and practical first steps.
  • What you’ll get: Definitions, lifecycle phases, business model redesign ideas and suggested actions.
  • How to use to create impact: Use before a cross-functional workshop; choose one lifecycle phase or material stream to explore first.
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Embedding

At the embedding stage, organisations are integrating future-ready action into governance, processes, decision-making and delivery. 

Suggested Actions

  • Integrate future-ready priorities into business planning, investment decisions and governance. 
  • Align sustainability, social impact, risk, finance, procurement and strategy teams around shared outcomes. 
  • Set clear responsibilities for delivering against climate resilience, nature recovery and social inclusion. 
  • Review products, services and operations to identify where they can create stronger social and environmental value. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use as a planning tool to move from broad ambition to a more structured business workplan. 

  • Use if: You have agreed that future readiness matters and now need to build it into business planning, governance and team responsibilities.
  • What you’ll get: A practical route for connecting strategy with action on energy and resources, nature, skills, stakeholder involvement, communities and measurement.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the short and medium-term actions to create a workplan, assign owners across teams and agree what evidence will be used in strategy, risk and investment discussions.
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Building Green Skills Routemap 

Helps organisations plan the skills needed for future-ready roles and make sure people are included in the transition. 

  • Use if: You need a workforce planning approach for green skills across teams or job families.
  • What you’ll get: A routemap for identifying skills needs, engaging people and building capability over time.
  • How to use to create impact: Identify two job families most affected by change; list current and future skills needs and agree one training action.
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Leading

At the leading stage, organisations are scaling action, influencing others and sharing learning across suppliers, partners and peers. 

Suggested Actions

  • Use your strategy to drive action across supply chains, partnerships and markets. 
  • Share learning, evidence and case studies to support wider business action. 
  • Use your influence to support fairer, more resilient and more sustainable industry practice. 
  • Demonstrate how responsible business supports growth, resilience and long-term value. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use as a scaling tool to test whether existing activity is moving beyond isolated projects and into wider business influence. 

  • Use if: You already have activity underway and want to strengthen links between internal strategy, suppliers, partners and places.
  • What you’ll get: A structure for checking whether action on risk, resources, nature, skills, communities and reporting is joined up across functions and value chains.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the medium and long-term actions to identify where suppliers, sector peers or place-based partners need to be involved to deliver bigger outcomes.
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The Economic Case for Nature 

Builds the case for treating nature as an economic risk and opportunity, not just an environmental issue. 

  • Use if: You need evidence to engage senior leaders, finance, risk or procurement teams on why nature matters to business resilience.
  • What you’ll get: A briefing on nature-related risks, ecosystem services, natural capital and examples of business action.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the evidence to build an internal business case; identify which nature dependencies could affect costs, supply, assets or customer value. 
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Building Green Skills Routemap 

Can support organisations to scale skills planning across functions, suppliers and partners. 

  • Use if: You want to move beyond one team or pilot and embed skills planning into wider business change.
  • What you’ll get: A structured route for engaging people, identifying capability gaps and building inclusive skills pathways.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the routemap to compare skills needs across teams and agree where supplier or partner capability-building is needed.
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Transforming

At the transforming stage, organisations are helping reshape markets, places or systems so that people, nature and business can thrive together. 

Suggested Actions

  • Work with government, civil society, investors and communities to address systemic barriers. 
  • Support new business models that regenerate nature, strengthen communities and create shared prosperity. 
  • Advocate for policy, finance and market conditions that reward long-term resilience. 
  • Help redefine success so that business performance is linked to the health of people, places and planet. 

Resources to support action

Seven Steps for Futureproofing Business 

Use as a framework for deciding where your business can help change wider systems, markets and places. 

  • Use if: You are working with partners on issues that one organisation cannot solve alone, such as skills, infrastructure, supplier markets or community resilience.
  • What you’ll get: A practical framework for connecting long-term investment, collaboration, reporting and accountability.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the long-term actions to identify which barriers need wider collaboration, such as policy, finance, procurement standards, shared data or place-based partnerships.
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In Your Hands: Going Circular 

Sets out the levers and leadership conditions needed to mainstream circular economy action. 

  • Use if: You want to understand how to scale circular economy practice across products, services, procurement or markets.
  • What you’ll get: Insights from organisations on drivers for change, enablers and leadership actions.
  • How to use to create impact: Choose one enabler relevant to your organisation and identify what would need to change across teams or suppliers.
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The Economic Case for Nature

Builds the case for treating nature stewardship as a strategic business priority, linking healthy ecosystems to resilience, competitiveness, productivity, supply chains and long-term value. 

  • Use if: You need evidence to engage senior leaders, finance, risk, procurement or strategy teams on why nature stewardship matters to business resilience.
  • What you’ll get: A briefing on the economic risks of nature loss, the role of ecosystem services and natural capital, and practical steps to understand your business relationship with nature, collaborate, create a strategy and invest in action.
  • How to use to create impact: Use the evidence to build an internal business case; identify which nature dependencies could affect costs, supply chains, sites, employees or customer value, then agree one priority area for deeper assessment or investment.
Learn more

References

1. Business in the Community. (2025) Creating a Future Ready Economy. Available at: https://www.bitc.org.uk/report/creating-a-future-ready-economy/ (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

2. Climate Change Committee. (2025) Progress in adapting to climate change: 2025 report to Parliament. Available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/progress-in-adapting-to-climate-change-2025/ (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

3. Office for National Statistics. (2025) Beyond GDP insights: environment, climate and nature, UK. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/beyondgdpinsightsenvironmentclimateandnatureuk/2025 (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

4. Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. (2023) Disclosure recommendations. Available at: https://tnfd.global/recommendations/ (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

5. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2025) OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review: Navigating Risks. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/06/oecd-supply-chain-resilience-review_9930d256.html (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

6. Transition Plan Taskforce. (2023) Disclosure Framework. Available at: https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/knowledge-hub/resources/tpt/disclosure-framework-oct-2023.pdf (Accessed: 1 June 2026).

Explore the other Futureproofing Business recommendations

Recommendation two

Co-create transition plans with stakeholders 

Involve employees, young people, supply chains and wider communities in developing transition plans. Move from top-down consultation to genuine co-design, ensuring benefits such as warmer homes, lower bills and local jobs are tangible and visible. 

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Recommendation three

Invest in building resilience with the communities you serve 

Use your purchasing power, partnerships and investment to support community wealth-building, help SMEs and social enterprises become more resilient, and enable local ownership of assets such as renewable energy, retrofit and nature-based projects. 

Learn More

Thank you to Royal London

These resources have been collated by Business in the Community with support from Royal London, building on the insights and recommendations from the Creating a Future Ready Economy report.