Newsletter: How Can Real Estate Investors Cope with Sea Level Rise?

Four Twenty Seven's monthly newsletter highlights recent developments on climate risk and resilience. This month we highlight recent research on sea level rise and feature NPR Marketplace's new podcast series on tech and adaptation.

In Focus: Sea Levels May Rise by 2 Meters

Recent Research Emphasizes the Complexity of Sea Level Rise

There is a statistically significant possibility of sea levels rising by 2m (6.5ft ), under a 5˚C increase in temperatures, according to a study released on Monday. The researchers surveyed experts to establish a broader picture of potential sea level rise. While this extreme scenario may not be very likely, the rate of ice melt and its contribution to global sea level is a complicated phenomenon, with increased research leading to growing questions on the interacting feedback loops driving these changes.

In fact, recent satellite data suggests that warming water is causing East Antarctica to melt more quickly than previously thought and a study released last week found that almost a quarter of West Antarctica's ice is thinning -- its largest glaciers are shrinking five times faster than in 1992.

This growing body of sciences unambiguously calls for better integration of climate data into financial decisions and underscores the need to accelerate adaptation efforts.

Sea Level Rise Has Cascading Economic Impacts

Sea level rise has cascading impacts, damaging physical assets but also reaching far beyond to mortgages, insurance prices and real estate markets. Homes exposed to sea level rise declined in value by about $465 million between 2005 and 2016 in Miami-Dade, FL and in Annapolis, MD "sunny day" flooding already reduces visits to the historic downtown district by 1.7%, costing businesses in the area.

The tangible impacts of sea level rise are already being felt and understanding these impacts enables governments, businesses and investors to manage asset-level and regional risk. Read more on real estate impacts in our new blog post and reach out to find out how our on-demand climate screening application supports real asset investors for due diligence and portfolio risk management.

Risk and Resilience Along California's Coast

The first study to overlay the impacts of sea level rise, storm surge and erosion along California's coast finds this "dynamic" flooding could affect 600,000 people and $150 billion of property, equivalent to over 6% of the the state's GDP by 2100. The new San Francisco Bay Shoreline Adaptation Atlas proposes a science-based framework for identifying adaptation strategies. It focuses on nature-based solutions along the San Francisco Bay and was created by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association.

How We Survive - NPR Podcast

How does technology help us understand climate impacts and how can innovation in tech help drive adaptation? NPR Marketplace Tech's new podcast series, "How We Survive," features speakers leveraging technology for adaptation across sectors. The podcast includes a conversation with NASA's Annmarie Eldering, who shares the agency's new CO₂ monitoring system attached to the International Space Station, that's "watching the planet breathe." J ay Koh of private equity firm, the Lightsmith Group, discusses the importance of adaptation finance, and Four Twenty Seven Founder and CEO, Emilie Mazzacurati, highlights the value of integrating climate data into businesses' and investors' strategies.

Upcoming Events on Climate Risk in Asia

Ceres Webinar: Are Asia's Pension Funds Ready for Climate Change?

In this webinar, speakers from the Asian Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), China Water Risk, and Manulife Investment Management will share key findings from their recent report - Are Asia’s Pension Funds ready for Climate Change? Discussions will explore pension fund exposure to water and climate risks in Asia, including the economic impacts and trade flow and supply chain disruptions in the region. Register Here.
May 28, 2019 6pm PST / 9pm EST; May 29, 2019 9am HKT / 11am AEST

Institute of International Finance (IIF) Sustainable Finance Workshop

The IIF is hosting a sustainable finance workshop on disclosure, data and scenario analysis. The event will focus on leading practice in climate risk disclosure, including developments in TCFD and the IIF report on leading practices. Speakers include Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer, Japan FSA and Representative to the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS); and Keiko Honda, EVP and CEO, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank. To RSVP contact Raymond Aycock (raycock@iif.com or +1 202-857-3652).
Wed. June 5th from 2:00-5:00pm, Tokyo.

Upcoming Events

Join the Four Twenty Seven team at these events:

May 23 – EU / UC Berkeley Law - Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance in the EU and California, Berkeley, CA: Founder & CEO, Emilie Mazzacurati, joins an event featuring Mario Nava from the European Commission DG Finance, Betty Yee, California State Controller, and Dave Jones, Insurance Commissioner Emeritus, to discuss the future of sustainable finance. Emilie will join a panel to discuss trends in TCFD reporting and the way forward for the United States in climate risk disclosures.
May 30 – Workshop on the California Heat Assessment Tool, Sacramento, CA: Director of Analytics, Nik Steinberg, and Editor, Natalie Ambrosio, will lead a workshop on the California Heat Assessment Tool for SafeCAT members.
June 4 - 7 – Innovate4Climate, Singapore: Director of Advisory Services, Yoon Kim, will present on climate risk and resilient infrastructure in this event hosted by Temasek.
June 6 - 8 – AIA Conference on Architecture 2019, Las Vegas, NV: Strategic Advisor, Josh Sawislak, will present on climate risk and real estate.
June 10 - 12 – US SIF Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN: Senior Analyst, Lindsay Ross will attend.
June 11 - 12 – RI Europe, London, UK: Hear Emilie Mazzacurati present on scenario analysis for physical climate risk and meet with Director, Europe, Nathalie Borgeaud, at Four Twenty Seven's booth.
June 12 - 14 – Emergency Preparedness Training Workshop, Sacramento, CA: Nik Steinberg will present on the California Heat Assessment Tool.
June 19 – Columbia University and PRI Private Round Table, New York, NY: Emilie Mazzacurati will discuss scenario analysis for physical climate risk at this workshop.
June 19 - 21 – Columbia University - At What Point Managed Retreat? New York, NY: Lindsay Ross will attend.
July 4 – Finance for Adaptation Solutions and Technologies Roundtable, London, UK: Emilie Mazzacurati will present on private sector solutions for climate resilience investments during London Climate Week.
July 4 – Young Professionals Conference 2019, Lisbon, Portugal: Nathalie Borgeaud will present on climate risk in real estate.
July 17 - 19 – Oxford Climate Related Financial Risk Course, Oxford, UK: Nathalie Borgeaud will teach a session on measuring climate risk.

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