Weathering the Storm

 

Very good report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions issued this month - Weathering the Storm: Building Business to Resilience to Climate Change.  From the report:

 

"Ninety percent of the S&P Global 100 Index companies identify extreme weather and climate change (such as

warmer temperatures, more extreme weather, or greater water scarcity) as current or future risks to their business,

across all industry sectors. Most of the S&P Global 100 companies (82), and all of the case-study companies, discussed

these concerns in their response to the Carbon Disclosure Project (which specifically includes questions on this

topic). Substantially fewer addressed extreme weather and climate change in either their financial filings (36 companies)

or their annual sustainability reports (35 companies). The limited mention of climate change impacts outside of

the Carbon Disclosure Project responses suggests that this issue has not yet risen to the level of financial materiality

or public significance for the vast majority of companies included in the research.

Of the ten S&P Global 100 companies that do not acknowledge risks from extreme weather and climate change

in any of the three sources of public disclosure reviewed, six are in the manufacturing & industrials sector, three are

consumer goods companies, and one was in the healthcare sector. Among these ten companies, five have assessed the

risks of extreme weather and climate change and concluded that such risks would not generate a substantive change

in expenses or revenues. The remaining five companies are silent on the subject.

Yet while the vast majority of companies acknowledge risks from extreme weather and climate change, they also

describe challenges with adequately understanding the risks and their implications for the business. Several, for

example, describe the risks as relatively minimal, too distant in time to be of concern, too difficult to quantify, or

too uncertain to support business decisions directed specifically at improving their resilience. Several case-study

companies describe challenges with communicating internally with decision-makers about climate-related risks that

are inherently volatile and uncertain."