Corporate responses to climate risks: a qualitative study of adaptation strategies in Newfoundland and Labrador's resource sectors

Climate change poses simultaneous risks and opportunities for resource-dependent economies like Newfoundland and Labrador. While organizations increasingly recognize climate materiality—including physical disruptions, transition risks, and liability exposures—corporate responses remain heterogeneous and context-specific. This thesis examines how businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador's energy and technology innovation sectors, perceive and respond to climate risks, and explores the institutional pressures shaping their adaptation strategies. Using qualitative methodology, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with six senior executives across three energy and three innovation firms (March–July 2025), supplemented by document analysis. Three research questions guided the inquiry: (1) How do businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador perceive climate risks (physical, transition, and liability)? (2) What adaptive strategies are businesses employing to mitigate climate impacts? (3) To what extent do institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic, normative) influence corporate adaptation strategies? Findings reveal fundamental divergences in climate risk materiality reflecting business model specificity rather than uniform sectoral characteristics. Energy utilities demonstrated formalized governance, scenario-based risk assessment, and investments in infrastructure resilience. The innovation sector exhibited marked heterogeneity: one clean tech firm adopted climate mitigation as a core strategy, a fintech company rationally deprioritized climate governance, and an incubator facilitated ecosystem-level adaptation. Four adaptation archetypes emerged: infrastructure resilience, product innovation, ecosystem facilitation, and business-as-usual strategies. Institutional pressures operated conditionally, coercive pressures constraining energy firms but creating opportunities for clean tech firms; mimetic and normative pressures facilitated sector-specific peer learning. The research introduces "opportunistic isomorphism," wherein organizations proactively align with institutional change to capture market opportunities. This challenges institutional theory predictions of uniform convergence, demonstrating that organizational agency and capability-driven strategies are crucial for understanding climate adaptation organizations that treat climate as a strategic imperative.