Major Risk Or Rosy Opportunity
Are Companies Ready For Climate Change?
By Nicolette Bartlett
Tom Coleman
CDP Worldwide
In 2017 and 2018, extreme weather events swept the globe, destroying communities and bringing huge economic losses. Meanwhile, rapid technological shifts as a result of the transition to a low-carbon economy have made the financial sector sit-up and take note.
Increasingly, financial regulators and investors are focused on ensuring the private sector is ready for the risks and opportunities of climate change.
In 2018, some 6,707 of the 6,937 companies responding to CDP disclosed information on whether they were exposed to climate-related risks and opportunities. This analysis examines those responses, focusing in on two core samples – the full range of disclosing companies, and a smaller sample made up of the world’s 500 biggest companies by market cap.
Companies are identifying both risks and opportunities
Almost half of all companies disclosing to CDP in 2018 identified risks and opportunities which could have a substantive impact on their business. Just 32% reported that they did not identify either risks or opportunities.
