RESOURCE GUIDE
Climate Change Physical Risk Analysis
In conjunction with the Climate Change Physical Risk Toolkit, ILN has curated a comprehensive selection of credible sources of external research, databases and tools, guidance documents, disclosure frameworks and regulatory and legislative sources to help investors and other stakeholders in further researching the physical risks and financial impacts of climate change.
To facilitate use of this Resource Guide, filters have been created to allow users to search for relevant sources by type, topic area, regional coverage, sector coverage, and/or keywords. These search functions will allow users to find resources that address the regions, sectors and risks most relevant to their current and targeted investments.
The Resource Guide will be periodically updated to include new and updated sources as research and guidance into the physical risks and financial impacts of climate change continue to expand.
Sources referenced in the Resource Guide are subject to the applicable disclaimers, limitations and conditions set out by such third-party sources and should be accessed and used only in accordance therewith. While ILN understands these sources to be appropriate and reasonable, we are not responsible for any such information and provide no representation or warranty in respect of such information, including as to the accuracy or completeness of such information or as to the security of any third party websites, links or databases. Users should satisfy themselves as to the policies and restrictions of the applicable third-party sources prior to accessing any of their information.
Yale Environment 360
Emphasizing the importance of the role Central Banks play in mitigating climate change.
Understanding different initiatives central banks should take to help governments and the financial sector become resilient against climate change, and ensure warming is not exceeded.
World Resource Institute
Uses data to identify and evaluate water risks around the world.
Can be used to identify and evaluate flood risks around the world.
World Resource Institute
Focuses on making the case for climate adaptation, providing specific insights and recommendations in key sectors: food security, the natural environment, water, cities and urban areas, infrastructure, disaster risk management, and finance.
Gaining an understanding of different adaptation measures and efforts to decrease the impacts of physical climate risks, as well as understanding the materiality around adaptation.
World Resource Institute
Analyzes climate-related physical risk assessment guidance from leading corporate disclosure initiatives and provides information on the disclosure guidance coverage of certain physical risks.
Understanding current physical climate risk disclosure landscape.
World Meteorological Organization
A specialized agency of the United Nations, WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
Identifying extreme weather events, and understanding climactic trends around the world.
World Bank Group
Provides country profile reports that synthesize the most relevant data and information on climate change, disaster risk reduction, and adaptation actions and policies at the country level.
Understanding climatology, climate related natural hazards, climate change impacts to key sectors, adaptation measures.
Washington Post
Explains the impacts heat waves could have on the human body, and providing information on safety measures that allow us to be more resilient and adapt to warmer weather.
Understanding how physical climate events impact humanity, and the indirect risks associated with climate events.
United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
Provides a foundational framework within which institutions can conceptualize the role of legal action as a driver or consequence of adaptation, and as a mechanism to reduce barriers to the availability of adaptation finance. It provides a key input for the future development of more holistic climate risk and pricing models.
Banks, insurers, asset owners, asset managers, and financial regulators to understand the importance of ensuring adaptation measures are considered to mitigate the impacts from physical climate risks.
United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
Provides a summary of the key developments across third party climate risk assessment providers since May 2019, including new and updated scenarios, methodological tools, key guidelines, as well as an overview of the changing regulatory landscape and potential developments into 2021.
Identifying resources available to support forward-looking scenario-based assessments of physical and transition risks and opportunities.
United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
A report on physical climate risks and opportunities from Phase II of its Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Banking Programme with climate risk advisory and analytics firm, Acclimatise. Provides a blueprint to support financial institutions to navigate the changing physical climate risk landscape.
Identifying resources available to support forward-looking scenario-based assessments of physical risks and opportunities.
United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
The paper reviews barriers and opportunities for financing resilience and adaptation by all actors across the financial system but chiefly targets financial system constituents, including policymakers and financial actors, and the actions required of each.
Identifying and understanding different adaptation and resilience measures investors can finance or encourage issuers to adopt.
UK Climate Risk
This is the third independent assessment of the UK’s climate risks under the Climate Change Act, coordinated by the Climate Change Committee. The report identifies eight risk areas that require the most urgent attention in the next two years, and provide advice for good adaptation planning that should form the basis for the next round of national adaptation plans.
Identifying adaptation initiatives and measures at a national level, and understanding the changing climate of the UK.
Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)
A set of climate disclosure recommendations for disclosing clear, comparable and consistent information about the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.
Knowing what material climate risks and opportunity information to disclose and look for from issuers. Understanding physical climate risks, and the financial impacts of climate risks and opportunities
Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)
The Task Force developed this guidance to support preparers in disclosing decision-useful metrics, targets, and transition plan information and linking those disclosures with estimates of financial impacts. Such information will enable users to appropriately assess their investment and lending risks.
Engaging with investee companies on their climate disclosures and using metrics to assess climate risk management.
Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)
In 2021, the TCFD published an annex that updated their disclosure recommendations, which describe climate information investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters need to make economic decisions.
Engaging with investee companies on their climate disclosures, and assessing climate related issues.
Swiss Re Group
Report discusses the negative impacts on GDP if temperatures continue to rise, and the regions that could be hardest hit.
Understanding the macroeconomic impacts of physical climate change.
Swiss Re
Swiss Re has created their own proprietary geo risk tool that provides the user with overviews and assessments of natural hazard exposures worldwide.
Identifying physical climate risks by location.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
Bulletin is intended to assist investors and companies in their efforts to more effectively manage and communicate about climate risk. For investors, it presents a comprehensive view of where climate risk is likely to be present across a diversified portfolio and maps that risk to corresponding financial impacts to provide a greater understanding of exposures and value at risk. Second, for companies, the bulletin shares recommendations on how industry-specific climate risk can be more effectively measured, managed, and disclosed, ensuring markets have the information they need to price climate-related risks and opportunities.
Identifying sectors and industries that may be exposed to physical risks.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
Identifies the subset of environmental, social, and governance issues most relevant to financial performance in each of 77 industries. They are designed to help companies disclose financially-material sustainability information to investors.
Understanding the most relevant environmental, social, and governance issues related to financial performance in 77 industries.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
Identifies sustainability issues that are likely to affect the financial condition or operating performance of companies within an industry.
Understanding material climate/environmental risks and opportunities by sector/industry.
Schroders
Provides an overview of physical climate risk awareness among different sectors, and uses a methodology to assess individual company’s physical risks.
Gaining an understanding of how physical climate risk is integrated into companies, and assessing physical climate risk using a bottom up approach.
S&P Global
Interactive tool that filters Physical climate risk hazards and time frame across the world to give probability of impact on geographic regions.
Identifying regions Physical climate risk hazards impact probability.
Responsible Asset Owners Global Symposium
Publication focuses on physical climate risks and provides investors with basic climate change information, and guidance on managing physical climate risks.
Identifying and mitigating risks associated with climate.
Resources for the Future
Assesses the threats and needs that multidimensional climate change imposes for public infrastructure, reviews the existing adaptive capacity that could be applied to respond to these threats and needs, and presents options for enhancing adaptive capacity through public sector investments in physical, planning, and human resources.
Understanding adaptation and mitigation measures and efforts that can be deployed.
Resource Watch
To help companies and financial organizations improve their understanding of these evolving risks, this dashboard provides a landing place for trusted, curated data and visualizations on physical climate hazards—presented along with an explanation of the climate science and potential financial impacts.
Identifying Physical climate risk hazards and understanding the climate science along with the potential financial impacts.
Pro Publica
Addresses how the climate crisis will interrupt the way we live and agriculture in the United States. Provides assessment and insights into how climate Physical climate risk hazards will impact different counties in the United States and how these changes may play out.
Understanding impact of physical climate risk on individual communities in United States.
Princeton Climate Analytics
Utilizes climate research to address physical climate issues using web-based tool and climate model data to monitor and predict weather patterns and extreme weather events in real-time and also allows users to visualize and interact with data at a regional level.
Assessing and monitoring drought data at the global level.
Oxfam America, Calvert Investments, and Ceres
Publication provides examples of effects on value chains for different sectors.
Understanding indirect climate risks among certain sectors.
OASIS Hub
Used to assess climate hazards and environmental risk data that individual locations are exposed to.
Location/country based Physical climate risk hazards information and data.
New York Times
Provides broad information on the different physical risks countries may experience.
Identifying physical risk exposures to certain geographic locations.
Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)
The NGFS’s publication portal provides reports and materials that help to advance the NGFS’s purpose of strengthening the global response required to meet the goals of the Paris agreement and to enhance the role of the financial system to manage risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments in the broader context of environmentally sustainable development. The Network defines and promotes best practices to be implemented within and outside of the NGFS’s global Membership of central banks and financial regulators and conducts or commissions analytical work on green finance.
Understanding macroeconomic implications of climate change, central banks roles and initiatives, and climate scenarios for the financial sector.
Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)
The NGFS Climate Scenarios bring together a global, harmonised set of transition pathways, physical climate change impacts and economic indicators.
Understanding how physical risks and transition risks could evolve in different futures.
Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)
Examines the implications of climate change for central banks’ operational frameworks and for the implementation of monetary policy in practical terms.
Understanding the macroeconomic implications of climate change risk.
McKinsey
Draw on climate model forecasts to showcase how the climate has changed and could continue to change, how a changing climate creates new risks and uncertainties, and what steps can be taken to best manage them.
Understanding what parts of the world are most exposed and vulnerable to certain acute and chronic physical climate risks, and the associated socioeconomic impacts. Also would be useful for understanding different mitigation and resilience efforts/measures.
KPMG
This study proposes a set of quality criteria for climate related disclosure and analyzes how the world’s 250 largest companies (as defined in the Fortune 500 list 2019) measure up against these criteria.
Knowing the climate reporting and disclosure landscape as well as the current global state of climate reporting among industries.
KPMG
A case study that looks at reviewing whether certain physical climate risks posed to a toll road operator could be uninsurable.
Understanding the impacts physical risks could pose to companies if they’re unable to be insured.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASS)
Provides quantitative projections of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and related Integrated Assessment scenarios under different warming projections.
Useful for projecting plausible climate temperature into the future under different temperatures and to describe situations in which mitigation, adaptation and residual climate damage can be evaluated.
International Energy Agency (IEA)
An initial effort to assess the level of Climate adaptation and resilience of each country by comparing the level of climate hazard that the country is facing against its policy preparedness.
Understanding climate hazards, and policy preparedness for Climate adaptation and resilience.
International Energy Agency
The IEA is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative analysis, data, policy recommendations, and real-world solutions to help countries.
Understanding different scenarios, policy developments, and gaining knowledge on the transition to a low carbon economy.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Most recent climate report from the IPCC that highlights the physical science basis of climate change by providing information on current state of the climate, including how it is changing and the role of human influence, the state of knowledge about possible climate futures, climate information relevant to regions and sectors, and limiting human-induced climate change
Understanding the physical risks of climate change and the different tipping points occurring globally
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
A special report that provides information on the impacts of a 1.5 degree warming above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.
Understanding the impacts physical climate change could have if the world is unable to limit it’s warming and reduce GHG emissions
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
This report lays the foundations of the impacts of physical risk on key economic sectors and lays out adaptation options, and other relevant literature.
Identifying physical risk exposures to certain sectors/industries.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Provides examples of adaptation, vulnerability & exposure reductions, and transformation measures that could be taken to reduce physical climate risk exposure.
Gaining an understanding of different resilience and adaptation measures and efforts.
Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation
Provides guidance to issuers to incorporate climate risk into different financial valuation methods, and includes a case study on the financial impacts physical climate risks had on a electricity power generating and wholesale marketing company.
Incorporating climate risk financial evaluations into risk management processes, and understanding different mitigation and resilience measures certain industries can take to be resilient against physical climate change.
Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation
Provides guidance on how commercial real estate can be resilient to flooding in Canada by providing information on plans & procedures, equipment & supplies, and retorfits that can be implemented.
Understanding certain resilience initiatives for flood risks.
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
This publication provides information to investors to help investors understand physical climate risks and how they can identify, assess, and manage physical risks and opportunities.
Understanding physical climate risks and how to assess them from a qualitative viewpoint.
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
A guide that establishes investor expectations of investee companies regarding the governance, assessment, management, key metrics, and disclosure of physical climate risks and opportunities. It also provides questions investors can use to support the physical climate-related stewardship of investee companies.
To guide engagement with issuers by highlighting the key actions guide to help companies need to take and providing a basis for discussions with investee companies.
HSBC
Ranked 67 developed, emerging, and frontier market countries for their vulnerability to climate change risks. Physical impacts, transition to low-carbon economies and the funds to respond to climate change are all key to this analysis.
Assessing countries that would be most vulnerable to climate risks.
Harvard Business School: Technology and Operations Management
Impact of climate change on semiconductor manufacturing.
Case study example of impact of climate change on supply chain operations.
Green Finance Platform
Includes policy and regulatory measures issued by public authorities, including governments, central banks, financial regulators, and public financial institutions.
Getting an overview of various climate change related worldwide regulations.
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Database to search and browse climate laws, policies and litigation cases globally.
Identifying climate laws and policies by geographic location or corporate level.
Global Risk Data Platform
Provides visualized data information on natural hazards global risks, covering different Physical climate risk hazards such as tropical cyclones and related storm surges, drought, earthquakes, biomass fires, floods, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
Identifying historical hazard of locations.
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)/World Bank
Provides a general view of the hazards, for a given location, that should be considered in project design and implementation to promote disaster and Climate adaptation and resilience.
Non-specialists to consider the impacts of disasters on new development projects.
Global Adaptation & Resilience Investment (GARI)
This discussion paper is designed to serve as an initial starting point for broader discussions about metrics and methodologies for identifying and assessing climate change risk at the asset level and about examples of investments in adaptation and resilience. It provides feedback and commentary from an initial set of private investors and other stakeholders on those approaches with the objective of leading to appropriate ways of measuring physical climate risk that can facilitate concrete investment in adaptation and resilience.
Climate adaptation and resilience in investment.
GermanWatch
Analyzes and ranks to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of climate related extreme weather events.
Identifying physical climate risks by region.
European Commission
The Commission has published guidelines on reporting climate-related information, which in practice consist of a new supplement to the existing guidelines on non-financial reporting, which remain applicable. The guidelines on reporting climate-related information integrate the recommendations of the Financial stability board’s taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) and take account of the forthcoming taxonomy on sustainable activities.
Understanding the key concepts in relation to reporting climate information under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, including materiality, climate-related risks, opportunities, and natural capital dependencies.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Provides guidance on how to disclose physical climate risks and opportunities based of the TCFD recommendations.
Gaining an understanding on reporting and disclosure topics for physical climate risks.
EU Taxonomy
Sets out the results of the work to date undertaken by the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance in relation to the development of an EU classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities.
Identifying resilience and adaptation initiatives.
EM-DAT
Provides an objective basis for vulnerability assessment and rational decision-making in disaster situations. For example, it helps identify the disaster types that are most common in a given country and that have had significant historical impacts on human populations.
Identifying location specific (city level) Physical climate risk hazards and provides definitions of disasters.
Ellen Macarthur Foundation
Provides detailed examples of how some industries can take advantage of certain circular economy initiatives that translate into climate opportunities.
Understanding mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Drought Catalogue
Contains over 200 drought risk tools available worldwide: drought hazard and risk tools, ranging from drought indices and datasets to online platforms, newsletters, and software products.
Identifying drought risk in most regions around the world.
Columbia University: Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law
A database of regulations and other actions by federal agencies that are relevant to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The database includes links to archived versions of proposed and final regulations as well as technical support documents, regulatory impact analyses, agency guidance, and other relevant resources.
Identifying climate related regulations in the United States.
ClimateWise/University of Cambridge
Case study assesses 12 real estate portfolios – with a total market value in excess of £2 trillion, spread across Europe, North and South America and Asia
Climate Watch
Offers open data, visualizations and analysis to help policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders gather insights on countries’ climate progress.
An open data source that provides information on location specific climate risks, and can help with identifying physical climate hazards, country readiness scores, country vulnerability scores, and climate risk index scores.
Climate Links
USAID has developed tools to support climate risk screening and management in strategy, project and activity design. These tools are meant to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of development interventions by helping the user to assess and address climate risk.
The annexes help to identify climate risks within certain sectors, and provide examples of how adaptation can assist in mitigating climate risks, opportunities to reduce climate risks, and risk management activities.
Climate Disclosure Standard Board (CDSB)
The Climate Guidance has been designed to help companies put into place the thinking and processes necessary for high-quality material climate disclosures and allow them and their investors to best navigate the risks and opportunities of climate change.
Offers companies a framework for reporting and disclosing climate risk information.
Climate Central
An interactive map showing areas threatened by sea level rise and coastal flooding. Combining the most advanced global model of coastal elevations with the latest projections for future flood levels.
Tool allows you to explore sea level rise and coastal flood threats of specific cities, as well as how different warming scnearios affect sea level rise, and land that could be put below tideline due to Antarctic ice sheet loss.
Climate Analytics
Tool shows how the severity of climate change impacts will increase over time in continents, countries and provinces at different levels of warming, starting with 1.5°C, the limit in the Paris Agreement. It also allows access to the underlying data.
Agriculture: Maize yield, rice yield, soy yield, wheat yield, soil moisture.
Climate: Air temperature, atmospheric pressure, daily max/min air temperature, downwelling longwave radiation, precipitation, relative humidity, snowfall, specific humidity, wind speed.
Economic Damages: 1-in-100-year expected damage from tropical cyclones, annual expected damage from river floods/tropical cyclones, labour productivity due to heat stress.
Extreme Event: Population/land exposed to crop failures/heatwaves/wildfires, river flood depth.
Fresh Water: Max/min daily river discharge, river discharge, surface runoff.
Scenarios:
NGFS current policies
NGFS delayed 2C
NGFS net-zero 2050
RCP26
RCP45
RCP60
RCP85
Understanding extreme weather events that could occur, and different physical climate risks.
Climate Analytics
Tool shows how the severity of climate change impacts will increase over time in continents, countries and provinces at different levels of warming, starting with 1.5°C, the limit in the Paris Agreement. It also allows access to the underlying data.
Scenarios:
RCP26
RCP45
RCP85
This tool provides local sea-level projections for different global warming scenarios, with uncertainty ranges, and sources of variance.
Climate Action Tracker
An independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action and measures it against the globally agreed Paris Agreement aim of “holding warming well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
Identifying government policies, Nationally Determined Contributions, and commitments made by the highest emitters
Clim Invest
Financial cost of climate hazards from extreme weather events and identification of transparent and precision in risk assessment tools.
Understanding physical risk information, securing portfolio value against climate risk, identifying key areas of priority from an investor perspective.
Clim Invest
An interactive online platform with indicators, maps, case studies, videos, and factsheets on physical climate risks.
Physical climate risk information for investors.
China Water Risk, Manulife Asset Management, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change
Assess the depth of significant short- and long-term threats from water and climate risks arising from both adaptation and mitigation, and discuss how they are embedded in Asian market indices and current asset allocation practices of Asian pension funds.
Understanding the physical risks hazards certain regions will face and how it could impact portfolios.
CFA Institute
Explains the different acute and chronic physical risks investors should consider.
Identifying risks.
CFA Institute
Page 3-7, Provides information on physical climate risks, as well as provides a case study that assesses geography of exposure in US residential mortgage-backed securities to physical climate risks.
Understanding physical risks and their global impact, and how to integrate these risks into investment decision making.
Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions
A map that shows all types of weather disasters, some of which are known to be influenced by climate change (floods, tropical storms) and some for which a climate influence is uncertain (tornadoes) in the United States.
Identifying potential location specific physical risks, and gaining an understanding of how financial material extreme weather events can be.
Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions
Fact sheet overviews strategies for areas with a projected increase in drought conditions to become more resilient. It concludes with a community case study that has used a number of these strategies, and a list of tools to help communities evaluate the costs and benefits of resilience strategies.
Identifying and understanding resilience efforts that can be taken to reduce the risks posed by droughts.
Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions
Paper overviews a number of adaptation strategies for areas with a projected increase in wildfire conditions. For each strategy, it will discuss design and operation costs, and primary and co-benefits. The paper includes a community case study of Austin, Texas, which has used a number of these strategies, and a list of publications and interactive tools to help communities become more resilient to wildfire.
Identifying and understanding resilience efforts that can be taken to reduce the risks posed by wildfires.
CDSB and TCFD
Offer some specific examples of different aspects of effective TCFD reporting across the four core TCFD elements of governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
Identifying best practice climate disclosures.
CDP
CDP runs the global environmental disclosure system. Each year CDP supports thousands of companies, cities, states and regions to measure and manage their risks and opportunities on climate change, water security and deforestation.
Identifying physical risks by location and sector, as well resilience and adaptation initiatives related to specific companies.
CDP
On an annual basis, CDP releases the top companies that have scored an ‘A’ on their climate change, forest, and water responses – showcasing the companies that are leaders in the climate change disclosure and management space.
Identifying best practice climate disclosure as well as identifying climate risks faced by certain global companies.
Carbon Brief
A UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy.
Becoming aware and staying up to date with various material climate change related information.
Canada Climate Law Initiative (CCLN)
CCLN’s mission is to ensure Canadian directors and trustees understand their fiduciary obligations with respect to climate change, and have access to resources to help them govern with confidence in the area of climate-related financial risks and opportunities.
Staying up to date on current climate laws and regulations and gaining an understanding of various climate regulations and laws that could impact various financial institutions.
Bank of England
Focus of this review is on the key theoretical and empirical modelling issues in the analysis of the macroeconomic risks deriving from climate change.
Understanding the macro economic risks climate change can pose.
Bank of England
Framework designed to assess the impact of physical climate change risk for in the insurance sector.
Practitioners working with or at general insurance firms who are looking to assess the financial impacts of physical climate change.
Bank of Canada
Examine the intersection between severe weather events and household financial vulnerabilities.
Identifying physical risks across Canada, and understanding the financial impacts.
Accounting for Sustainability
Offers a five-step framework that enables investment and valuation communities to apply climate change risks and opportunities consistently to valuations and decision making.
Quantifying climate related risks.
Acclimatise & UNEP FI
The report is the result of a collaboration of sixteen of the world’s leading banks coordinated by the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Secretariat to advance recommendations published by the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Through this collaboration, banks set out to develop and test a widely applicable scenario-based approach for estimating the impact physical climate change on their corporate lending portfolios.
Understanding how physical risks could impact portfolios and different methodologies that could be used.