Climate change is affecting communities, businesses and supply chains, but tackling it also presents an economic opportunity. The challenge is to scale cleaner energy, mobility and infrastructure quickly enough while sustaining economic growth. Jesper Brodin, Chair of The Earthshot Prize and former CEO of Ingka Group, believes clean technologies are becoming increasingly competitive, giving businesses greater reason to invest in solutions that address climate change. However, he says progress depends on governments providing consistent policies, companies overcoming resistance to change and countries such as India making the most of their capacity for innovation.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Brodin said many of the solutions needed to tackle climate change already exist. The priority is to accelerate their adoption and ensure that businesses can turn them into viable investments. Why climate action is becoming a business opportunityFor businesses, the case for climate action increasingly rests on economics as well as environmental responsibility. Brodin pointed to renewable energy, battery storage and circular approaches to materials as areas where investment can help address climate change and nature loss while creating commercial opportunities."

We know that electrification is within our reach. It has already started," he said. Brodin said companies have a better understanding of the problem than they did less than a decade ago, when many business leaders were still grappling with the implications of climate change. Today, he believes most industries have opportunities to adopt solutions that deliver economic benefits, although some continue to face difficulties scaling them.

The distinction is between having access to technology and deploying it widely.

Brodin argued that the economics of several clean technologies have reached a point where businesses have little financial reason to avoid investing in them. However, he acknowledged that this is not yet true across every industry. For companies, the opportunity lies in adopting solutions that make commercial sense while reducing their environmental impact. The challenge is to move beyond individual innovations and implement them at a scale that delivers meaningful results. What businesses need from governmentsFavourable economics alone may not be enough to accelerate investment. Businesses also need predictable policies and greater coordination between governments, according to Brodin.

He identified three priorities: consistency in government policy over time, alignment across national borders and opportunities for businesses to participate in policymaking. Consistency gives companies greater confidence when making investment decisions, while alignment between countries can help businesses operate across markets. Engagement in policymaking, meanwhile, allows governments and companies to work together on the practical challenges of the transition. Brodin said there had been progress in collaboration between governments and businesses, although results remained uneven across parts of the world.

He also believes corporate leaders must take responsibility for addressing climate change rather than leaving the problem to future generations. In his view, governments need to provide the conditions for investment while businesses must act on the opportunities already available to them. Why India matters in the global climate transitionIndia's importance stems from its size, the pace of its economic transformation and its capacity for innovation, Brodin said. As the world's largest country, India is crucial to efforts to scale climate solutions. Its continued economic development also creates an opportunity to invest in cleaner energy, mobility and infrastructure.

Brodin said the pace of change in India was among the highest in the world, accompanied by an openness to new ideas and an understanding of the potential for transformation. He also pointed to The Earthshot Prize's record as an indication of the country's activity in this area. Over the initiative's first five years, most of its prizes had gone to Indians, which Brodin attributed to the country's innovation culture. For India, the opportunity is to apply that innovation to solutions that can address environmental problems while supporting economic development.

Brodin's argument is that the two objectives can advance together when investment is directed towards technologies that deliver both economic and environmental benefits. What is preventing faster adoption? If clean technologies are becoming more competitive, why are businesses not adopting them faster? Brodin identified fear of change as a major obstacle. Resistance can stem from established economic interests, reluctance to abandon familiar business models or concerns about leading a large-scale transformation.

He illustrated this with a story about an association of horse dealers that supposedly tried to prevent cars from becoming a reality in the early 1900s. Brodin acknowledged that he did not know whether the story was true, but said it captured how established interests can resist technological change. He described the shift towards a more sustainable economy as potentially the biggest economic transformation in hundreds of years. While acknowledging that the process would involve setbacks, he argued that businesses risk being left behind if they delay acting on opportunities that are becoming commercially attractive."

The train has left the station, and the last place you want to be right now is left at the station," he said. The challenge, therefore, is not simply to develop new technologies but to overcome the resistance that can prevent existing solutions from being adopted at scale. Why the transition away from fossil fuels must accelerateDespite progress in electrification and renewable energy, Brodin believes the world is not doing enough to address climate change. He argued that reducing dependence on fossil fuels remains central to tackling the problem.

One difficulty is that the expansion of renewable energy and electrification has coincided with rising energy demand, offsetting some of the gains. This means that progress in adopting cleaner technologies must be accompanied by a faster transformation of the energy system. Brodin called for governments, businesses and citizens to work together to avoid taking global warming above 1.5 degrees. Asked whether world leaders were doing enough, he said: "We can only answer yes when we have resolved the issue. That means we need to do much more and act faster."

He added that if the 1.5-degree threshold is crossed, every fraction of a degree would matter, and efforts would be needed to bring the world back below that level as soon as possible. The Earthshot Prize's role in IndiaThe Earthshot Prize, which Brodin described as a young initiative with the ambition of becoming the Nobel Prize of sustainability, aims to bring attention to solutions that can be scaled around the world. Its decision to hold the awards ceremony in different locations each year reflects the global nature of climate change and nature loss.

The November ceremony in India will give the organisation an opportunity to showcase solutions and broaden its reach. Brodin said the prize aims to reach a billion people in India, not merely to offer hope but also to inspire people through the solutions presented at the event. For India, the wider challenge is to translate innovation into widespread adoption. Brodin's central argument is that the economic case for many clean technologies is strengthening, but faster progress will require businesses to overcome resistance to change and governments to provide consistent policy support.

The pace at which those conditions come together will help determine how quickly climate solutions can move from promising ideas to viable businesses. Watch accompanying video for full conversation.