A majority of top executives with large companies worldwide expect climate change to have a major impact on their business strategy over the next three years, a new Deloitte survey of 2,103 business leaders found.

Seventy percent of the survey respondents said rising emissions and global temperatures will have a "high or very high" impact on operations, Deloitte reported, and 45% said they are changing their business model to reduce emissions and prepare for a low-carbon economy.

The survey comes as rising costs from extreme weather and other climate impacts burden companies and nations. In 2023, damage from natural disasters caused $380 billion in economic losses, according to the Zurich Insurance Group. Less than one-third was covered by insurance.

Scientists with the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service warned in early September that 2024 is on track to set yet another temperature record. And business leaders are paying attention, Deloitte said.

"We are seeing more organizations looking to transform their core business models to address climate change," Joe Ucuzoglu, CEO of Deloitte Global, said in a statement. They "leverage climate action to drive innovation and growth, create new value for their stakeholders and differentiate themselves from their competitors."

Half of the C-level executives surveyed said climate-related disasters and regulations seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are already affecting their operations. In addition, 49% said government policies incentivizing climate-related investment have an impact on their business, and 51% said changing consumer patterns over climate concerns do as well.

Just over half of the companies reported that they are implementing new technology to improve efficiency or better monitor the environmental performance of their supply chains, for example. Such changes come as consumers and shareholders urge action, they said.

Nearly all the respondents, 92%, said they can continue to grow their company while shrinking its carbon footprint.

The number of executives who reported feeling concerned about climate change "all or most of the time" increased to 76%, from 62% in the 2023 edition of the accounting and consulting firm's annual "CxO Sustainability Report."

"This concern is likely driven by direct experiences with climate-related events over the past year, such as severe flooding and rising sea levels, extreme heat and severe drought or water shortages," the report said.

Many scientists no longer think that the world will be able to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, the target set under the Paris Agreement on climate change to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. At the same time, the world is investing record amounts in clean energy, electric vehicles and new technologies to speed up the transition to a carbon-free economy — explaining the mix of optimism and worry the executives expressed, Deloitte said.

The survey was conducted in May and June and included C-level executives in 27 countries.