“Whatever risk managers may think about the causes of climate change, there is now little doubt that it is happening and that it poses business risk that companies cannot afford to ignore” Richard Willsher, www.financialdirector.co.uk .

In this months Finance Director, climate risk is identified as a key business risk.

Cary Depel, deputy chairman of the London-based Institute of Risk Management, feels that FDs have an important role to play in risk management. “There is a lot of crossover between risk management and finance. If, between them, they can generate as hard data as possible about climate change risk, this can enable them to build powerful predictive models. This can allow people within the business to do scenario planning with far greater ability to handle the situation when, or if, a peril impacts the business.”

His view is that a climate risk assessment report, commissioned from a credible third party, will enable a business to say: “We’ve examined the issues, these are the potential impacts on our business and we will continue to monitor the issues going forward.”

Businesses may not be able to predict the consequences of global climate change, but they can make an honest attempt to protect themselves from risks and be in a position to do something about it. Doing nothing about climate change is a business risk itself

If your company needs climate risk advice please call Gareth Johnston +61433108391 to discuss your needs.