Understanding the risks of climate change
We have published our first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report, one year ahead of UK legislative requirements.
The report demonstrates how material the physical and transitional risks from climate change are to our business and outlines our approach to addressing the climate crisis and improving our corporate resilience.
The report also sets out how we have taken the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s TCFD and embedded them into our climate-related considerations in our UK operations and risk register.
The four key elements of the TCFD are also covered in the document: governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets. This supports our aim to be transparent with all stakeholders about the risks faced by our operations and how we will approach these, which is a crucial step for any organisation that takes its role in addressing the climate crisis seriously.
Risk assessments
Through our physical and transitional risk assessments for the UK, we have identified several risks and opportunities for our business related to climate change.
From a physical risk perspective, heat stress, water scarcity and adverse weather conditions related to water inclusive of increased precipitation and storm events are likely to have adverse effects on our operations. To mitigate these challenges, we have integrated the findings into our business sustainability planning and office selection criteria.
From a transitional risk perspective, there are both risks and opportunities related to emerging technologies, our markets, changes in policy and the legal landscape: our response to which will impact our reputation.
Our priorities
In the next year, our priorities to further address the climate crisis and improve our corporate resiliency will be:
- Continuing to grow our sustainability expertise globally and working with natural resources clients to unlock and enable clean energy opportunities and innovation.
- Weaving climate risk considerations into all our service offers and work with clients, using tools like the Embodied Carbon Calculator to get an accurate picture of the challenge.
- Assessing our progress against our Science-based Targets and updating/renewing our targets aligned to best practice where appropriate.
- Reviewing our existing climate risk management processes, and exploring alternative best practice procedures for potential implementation.
Our TCFD report will be updated annually to reflect our growing maturity in this area.
UK Managing Director Patricia Moore said:
Changes to our climate present both risks and opportunities for the industries that we operate in. Aligned with our Purpose and Vision 2025, we have an ambition to lead the way in much needed industry and operational transformation - building on the investments we have already made in both our sustainability and digital expertise.
"We are publishing our first TCFD report in 2022 to demonstrate our commitment to addressing the climate crisis and realising essential change."
