Category: Data & Models

Newsletter: How will climate change worsen wildfire exposure?

Posted on by Jeremiah Kim

Four Twenty Seven's monthly newsletter highlights recent developments in climate risk and resilience. This month we share new data on wildfire potential, highlight the connection between racial justice and climate change and feature new reports on climate risk.
In Focus: Projecting Future Wildfire Potential

Four Twenty Seven Analysis - Days of High Wildfire Potential will Increase by Up to Three Months in Most Exposed Regions
 
Areas ranging from California and Australia to the Amazon, Spain and the Arctic have experienced unprecedented loss of life and damage from wildfires in the past several years. Climate change is already making wildfires more severe and Four Twenty Seven's latest analysis finds that it will lead to more days with high wildfire potential in areas already prone to wildfires, and create hotter and drier conditions that will expose entirely new areas. 

This analysis leverages Four Twenty Seven's new dataset, which provides the only known globally comparable assessment of future wildfire potential in a changing climate at a scale of approximately 25 kilometers by 25 kilometers. The data is built upon the two key factors of soil moisture deficit and wildfire fuel type and incorporates data from global climate models to provide a view of changing conditions by 2030-2040, capturing both absolute and relative change in frequency and severity. This new data is now available on-demand for our clients via Four Twenty Seven’s Physical Climate Risk Application for real assets.

Register for our webinar on August 20th at 8am PST / 11am ET / 16:00 BST to learn more about the methodology and findings.
Read the Report
Climate Change and Racial Justice

Exploring Environmental Justice and the Need for Equitable Adaptation

The relationship between race and climate change is too often ignored. The recent protests for racial justice and police reform call attention to the fact that racism is still deeply embedded in our institutions and public policies. In the United States, people of color are disproportionately affected by polluting industries and climate change, while at the same time often lacking the resources to prepare and being excluded from decision-making on adaptation investment.

As part of our commitment to help raise awareness of the nexus between racial justice and climate change, Four Twenty Seven published a two-part blog series on the nexus of racial justice and climate change. The first blog focuses on exposure, providing a brief overview of environmental injustice issues in the U.S., and shedding light on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on Black communities and people of color. One solution is to ensure that climate adaptation intentionally considers this disproportionate exposure, factoring racial equity into decision-making. The second blog on adaptation outlines the need to integrate equity into adaptation and highlights emerging best practices.

Read our analyses:

Webinar Recording

Last week Four Twenty Seven and Moody's hosted a webinar exploring these topics. Four Twenty Seven's Yoon Kim discussed disproportionate exposure of people of color to climate hazards, Moody's Investors Services' Ram Sri-Saravanapavaan presented on the implications of inequality on sovereign credit, Tulane's Jesse Keenan discussed climate justice in urban development and UC Irvine's Michael Méndez presented on racial equity in climate policy. Register here to watch the recording. 
Central Banks on Climate Risk

The Bank of England's Climate Risk Disclosure
Last month the Bank of England published its first TCFD-aligned climate risk disclosure, assessing the exposure of its own portfolios to physical and transition risks. The Bank underscores the importance of addressing climate change as a financial risk and states the importance of assessing and disclosing risks even as the best available resources continue to evolve. The risk assessment leverages Four Twenty Seven and Moody's Analytics analysis on physical risk exposure. Meanwhile, the Bank of England's Climate Financial Risk Forum published a guide for financial stakeholders to assess, manage and disclose climate risk.

Guide to Climate Scenario Analysis for Central Banks and Supervisors
The Network for Greening the Financial System released a four step approach for central banks and supervisors to implement scenario analysis for climate risk, accompanied by a detailed set of climate scenarios. The steps include identifying the scope of the assessment; identifying scenarios; assessing the best way to connect climate risk exposure to economic and financial impacts; and explaining the results and methodology.

Indebted to Nature - Exploring Biodiversity Risks for the Dutch Financial Sector
Last month the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency released this report outlining the ways in which biodiversity loss poses economic and financial risk and the role the financial sector plays in biodiversity loss. The report also assesses the Dutch financial sector's exposure to biodiversity risk leveraging Four Twenty Seven's database. The separate report, Methods for analyses in Indebted to nature, explains the full approach. 
Public Consultations on Climate Risk

EIOPA Discussion Paper on Methodological Principles of Insurance Stress Testing
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority's (EIOPA) recent discussion paper outlines an approach to climate risk stress testing for transition and physical risks, citing Four Twenty Seven's methodology. EIOPA has asked for feedback by October 2.

European Central Bank Consultation on Climate Risk Disclosure Guidance
The European Central Bank (ECB) published guidance asking banks to disclose their climate-related risks and integrate these risks into their risk management processes. Compliance will be expected when the guidelines are finalized at the end of the year. The ECB has solicited feedback through a public consultation open until September 25.
Four Twenty Seven Wins
WatersTechnology Asia Award

Four Twenty Seven Recognized as Best Alternative Data Provider
The WatersTechnology Asia Award 2020 for Best Alternative Data Provider recognizes Four Twenty Seven’s innovation, accuracy and high standard in curating and deploying data for financial stakeholders.
This regional award showcases vendors and end users with high quality solutions with global relevance that are also especially pertinent to Asia markets.This came as financial regulators across the Asia-Pacific region have increasingly contributed to the global call for increased measurement and disclosure of climate risks in investment portfolios, encouraging financial actors to step up. With an office in Tokyo and a partnership with Sydney based DB Funds Advisory, Four Twenty Seven is excited to bring our award-winning climate risk data to more financial stakeholders in these markets. 

Four Twenty Seven Recognized in Exeleon Magazine's Top Companies

Business and Tech Magazine Exeleon, includes Four Twenty Seven in its listing of the top 100 companies to watch in 2020. "While the past several years have seen an increase in awareness of the material risks of climate change, Four Twenty Seven was on the leading edge of analyzing many complex scientific datasets and translating them for financial and business stakeholders." Exeleon writes. "Emilie and her team publish deeply data-driven and location-specific analysis, based on the best available climate data and the specific need of financial stakeholders."
Four Twenty Seven Partners with Nova Group

Nova's Climate Resilience Assessment Leverages Four Twenty Seven's Physical Risk Data
Four Twenty Seven is pleased to announce a partnership with Nova Group, GBC, a leading environmental and engineering due diligence advisory firm. Four Twenty Seven's asset-level physical climate
risk data now informs Nova’s new Climate Resilience Assessment, providing resilience recommendations based on the risks and characteristics of the specific asset of interest.
Inside the Office at Four Twenty Seven

Associate Director, Research - Stephanie Auer
Four Twenty Seven welcomes Stephanie as Associate Director, Research. Stephanie develops and incorporates metrics of novel climate indices into Four Twenty Seven’s products and services. Stephanie’s background is in data science and conservation ecology. She has worked for NatureServe and the California Academy of Sciences in ecological forecasting, data visualization and mapping, with a focus on analysis and communication for climate change adaptation planning.

Join the team! Four Twenty Seven is Hiring

There are several opportunities to join Four Twenty Seven's dynamic team. See the open position below and visit our Careers page and Moody's Careers page for more information.
  • IAM Modeler with expertise in Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and in translating IAM outputs for a wide range of stakeholders
Upcoming Events

Join the team online at these upcoming events and check our Events page for updates:
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Copyright © 2020 Four Twenty Seven, All rights reserved.
Four Twenty Seven sends a newsletter focused on bringing climate intelligence into economic and financial decision-making for investors, corporations and governments. Fill in the form below to join our mailing list. As data controller, we collect your email address with your consent in order to send you our newsletter. Four Twenty Seven will never share your mailing information with anyone and you may unsubscribe at any moment. Please read our Terms and Conditions.
 

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Climate Change and Wildfires: Projecting Future Wildfire Potential

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

August 6, 2020 – Four Twenty Seven Report. Wildfires are complex physical phenomena that come at extraordinary costs to human and natural systems. Climate change is already making wildfires more severe and this new research finds that it will lead to more days with high wildfire potential in areas already prone to wildfires, and create hotter and drier conditions that will expose entirely new areas. Understanding which areas are exposed to changing wildfire conditions will help leaders in government, finance and public health to mitigate catastrophic loss. This report explores Four Twenty Seven’s new methodology for assessing global wildfire potential, identifying regional trends and hot spots.

Download the report.

The 2019-2020 Australian bushfires raged for seven months, killed more than 30 people, hospitalized thousands more,[1] and burned more than 10 million hectares of land.[2] While the full financial and ecological impact is still unknown, costs from those fires are likely to exceed the $4.4 billion.[3] Meanwhile, ten of the largest wildfires in Arizona’s history occurred in the last eight years and nine of California’s largest wildfires occurred in just the last seven years.[4]

Beyond direct losses and disruption from damage to buildings and infrastructure, air pollution from wildfires has led to healthcare costs in excess of $100 billion in losses per year in the United States.[5] Leaders in government, finance, and public health need to understand how and where climate change will further heighten wildfire potential because of the serious threat wildfires pose to societies, economies, and natural systems.

This new report, Climate Change and Wildfires: Projecting Future Wildfire Potential, outlines Four Twenty Seven’s approach to quantifying global wildfire potential, capturing both absolute and relative changes in frequency and severity by 2030-2040.  Wildfire potential refers to meteorological conditions and vegetative fuel sources that are conducive to wildfires. Using a proprietary methodology submitted for peer review, our analytics link climate drivers such as changing temperature and precipitation patterns with the availability of vegetative fuels to assess wildfire potential in the future.

The analysis also explores key regions exposed to increasing wildfire potential and discusses the implications for financial stakeholders and communities. Our analytics affirm common understanding about locations exposed to wildfire, providing an indication of the increasing severity and frequency of wildfires in areas already prone to these events. The report also offers insight into areas that may have less obvious exposure, but are likely to have higher wildfire potential over time. Preparing for wildfires is a local, and often regional effort. The relatively high spatial granularity of our results (~25 kilometers) enables decision-makers to evaluate wildfire potential at a useful scale.

Key Findings:

  • Four Twenty Seven developed a first-of-its-kind global dataset projecting changes to wildfire potential under a changing climate, at a granularity of about 25 x 25 kilometers.
  • In areas already exposed to wildfires, by 2030-2040 climate change will prolong wildfire seasons, adding up to three months of days with high wildfire potential in Western Australia, over two months in regions of northern California and a month in European countries including Spain, Portugal and Greece.
  • New wildfire risks will emerge in historically wet and cool regions, such as Siberia, which is projected to have 20 more days of high wildfire potential in 2030-2040.
  • Globally, western portions of the Amazon and Southeast Asia will experience the largest relative increases in wildfire severity, further threatening crucial biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks.
  • Confronting this new risk will take unprecedented resources and new approaches in regions not familiar with wildfires and worsening wildfire seasons will continue to threaten already limited resources in currently exposed areas.

Download the report.

Download the press release.

[1] Cohen, Li, “Australian bushfire smoke killed more people than the fires did, study says,” CBS News, March 20, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/australia-fires-bushfire-smoke-killed-more-people-than-the-fires-did-study-says/.

[2] Rodway, Nick, “‘We are a ghost town’: Counting the cost of Australia’s bushfires,” Aljazeera, January 27, 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/ghost-town-counting-cost-australias-bushfires-200127035021168.html.

[3] Ben Butler, “Economic Impact of Australia’s Bushfires Set to Exceed $4.4bn Cost of Black Saturday,” The Guardian, January 7, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/economic-impact-of-australias-bushfires-set-to-exceed-44bn-cost-of-black-saturday.

[4] Cappucci, Matthew and Freedman, Andrew, “Arizona wildfires grow as flames flicker throughout Desert Southwest and California,” The Washington Post, June 22, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/22/arizona-wildfires-grow-flames-flicker-throughout-desert-southwest-california/

[5] Fann N., Alman B., Broome R. A., Morgan G. G., Johnston F. H., Pouliot G., & Rappold A. G., “The health impacts and economic value of wildland fire episodes in the U.S.: 2008-2012,” The Science of the Total Environment, 2018.

Four Twenty Seven Wins WatersTechnology Asia Award

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

JULY 9, 2020 – Hong Kong – Four Twenty Seven Wins WatersTechnology Asia Award for Best Alternative Data Provider. 

The WatersTechnology Asia Award 2020 for Best Alternative Data Provider recognizes Four Twenty Seven’s innovation, accuracy and high standard in curating and deploying data for financial stakeholders. This regional award showcases vendors and end users with high quality solutions with global relevance that are also especially pertinent to Asia markets.

In 2020 Four Twenty Seven launched the first of its kind Physical Climate Risk Application, allowing investors to score any asset in the world on its exposure to floods, heat stress, hurricanes & typhoons, sea level rise and water stress. This came as financial regulators across the Asia-Pacific region have increasingly contributed to the global call for increased measurement and disclosure of climate risks in investment portfolios, encouraging financial actors to step up.

Committed to meeting the growing need of investors and other financial stakeholders in these markets, Four Twenty Seven opened a Tokyo office and hired a senior country representative, Toshi Matsumae, in October 2019. In June 2020 we announced a partnership with Derani Brewis of DB Funds Advisory, who leads our business development in Australia and New Zealand. We’ve seen growing demand for physical climate risk analytics from these markets and look forward to engaging more directly with stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific region to deliver our award-winning climate risk data and continue refining our analytics to meet their needs.

——————

Explore Four Twenty Seven’s on-demand Physical Climate Risk Application for real assets and learn about our other data products for investors, banks and corporations to assess their exposure to physical climate hazards.

Four Twenty Seven Announces Partnership with Nova Group, GBC

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

July 9, 2020 – BERKELEY, CA – New Climate Resilience Assessment leverages Four Twenty Seven’s physical climate risk data to enable proactive risk management by commercial real estate stakeholders

Commercial real estate assets are increasingly affected by climate change, whether it be costly hurricane damage, increasing energy costs due to higher temperatures, or the impacts of sea level rise on asset value. As it becomes evident that every asset has its own risks and that these risks will continue to manifest in financial loss, real estate investors and property managers need to prepare. Granular, site-specific data on risk exposure is the critical first step for understanding these impacts, and it is essential to use these assessments to inform investment in preparedness. Nova’s new Climate Resilience Assessment fulfills this demand for data-driven insights into how to build resiliency, based on the risks and characteristics of the specific asset of interest.

“The single most frequent question we get from clients is ‘I know my risk now, but what do I do next?’ We are delighted to partner with Nova Group to answer this question, filling the urgent demand for site-specific guidance on how to build resilience,” said Emilie Mazzacurati, Four Twenty Seven’s Founder & CEO.

“Arguably there is no greater risk confronting the global commercial real estate industry than climate change. We are thrilled to partner with the industry leaders of Four Twenty Seven to amplify their forward-looking, predictable, and location-specific data to create a more resilient world,” stated Ben Bohline, Nova Group’s President & CFO.

Read Nova Group’s announcement here.

Panel Recording: Understanding and Managing Different Climate Risks

Posted on by Jeremiah Kim

This Responsible Investor Digifest panel covers the elements of transition, physical and liability risks related to climate change and the importance of using climate risk data for investment decision-making.

Speakers

  • Viola Lutz, Head of University Consult and Climate at ISS ESG, discusses assessing companies’ alignment with climate change mitigation targets.
  • Emilie Mazzacurati, Founder & CEO of Four Twenty Seven, shares Moody’s and Four Twenty Seven’s latest work on quantifying the financial impacts of climate change.
  • Julie Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Impax Assess Management, discusses physical climate risk from an investor perspective.
  • Gerald Esono, RI Analyst at Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, speaks about integrating ESG analysis into the investment decision process.
  • Moderator: Sophie Robinson-Tillet, Editor, Responsible Investor

Panel Recording: Electric Vehicles, Green Public Travel

Posted on by Jeremiah Kim

This Responsible Investor Digifest panel features a discussion on the time frame for adoption of evolving electric vehicle technology, the improvements of green mass transit, how this affects carbon transition risk and the investment impacts and credit rating implications of the transport revolution.

Speakers

  • James Leaton, Vice President and Senior Credit Officer of Moody’s discusses the future of mobility and its cross-sector credit implications.
  • William Todts, Executive Director of Transport and Environment, highlights prominent issues to consider post-COVID-19 in the transport space.
  • Joy Williams, Senior Advisor of Mantle 314, shares investor and analyst perspectives on navigating resilience.
  • Moderator: Daniel Brooksbank, Head of Strategic Content, Responsible Investor

Four Twenty Seven Announces Partnership with Measurabl

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

June 2, 2020 – BERKELEY, CA –  Four Twenty Seven’s data on climate-related risks is now available on Measurabl’s real estate data platform.

Measurabl is the world’s most widely adopted ESG software for commercial real estate, and Four Twenty Seven’s physical risk data is now available in a new Physical Climate Risk Exposure tool on Measurabl’s investment grade ESG (environmental, social, governance) data hub. Through this integration Measurabl customers can now identify their physical climate risks to inform opportunities to build resilience across their real estate portfolios.

As the effects of climate change worsen, real estate companies are feeling tangible impacts. Properties exposed to rising sea levels rise in the United States sell at about 7% less compared with similar, unexposed properties. Severe climate events such as hurricanes are occurring more frequently and costing billions of dollars in damage to assets. Additionally, companies face growing regulatory and investor pressures to disclose climate-related financial risks in line with frameworks like the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).

Yet today, real estate owners and lenders lack transparency into the forward-looking impacts of climate-related threats on their assets and find it difficult to collect and analyze physical climate risk data in a meaningful, comprehensive way.

For each building in a portfolio, Measurabl’s Physical Climate Risk Exposure tool provides Four Twenty Seven’s data for the five key climate hazards of floods, heat stress, hurricanes & typhoons, sea level rise and water stress, as well as earthquakes. The tool identifies the level of risk an asset faces for each hazard and allows users to sort, filter and export Four Twenty Seven’s physical risk data by property type, risk category, and risk level. Users can access this data from Measurabl’s centralized software alongside relevant ESG performance metrics and analytics. This new release improves transparency and enables lenders and investors to better assess and manage their risk.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the leading ESG data management platform to provide unprecedented levels of transparency to real estate owners and managers worldwide,” said Emilie Mazzacurati, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Four Twenty Seven. “As climate change increasingly causes financial damage to real assets, this partnership helps fill the urgent demand for data to help the real estate industry prepare for the impacts of climate change.”

Physical climate risk data analyzed in tandem with ESG performance provides real estate and capital markets new opportunities to assess their risks and build more resilient portfolios in a central hub. Through advanced understanding of these risks, the built environment and capital markets will be empowered to make data-driven decisions on risk mitigation and strategic investments.

“The evolution of Measurabl’s software to include climate risk data was a natural development as we continue to build the best-in-class ESG –and now “R” – platform for commercial real estate,” said Matt Ellis, Founder and CEO of Measurabl. “The union of physical climate risks with ESG creates unparalleled transparency for climate-related financial decisions and disclosures.”

Read Measurabl’s announcement here and learn more about the new Physical Climate Risk Exposure tool incorporating Four Twenty Seven data.

Newsletter: Will There be a Green Recovery?

Posted on by Christina Guo

Four Twenty Seven's monthly newsletter highlights recent developments in climate risk and resilience. This month we discuss the potential for a green recovery, highlight ways in which asset owners can leverage Four Twenty Seven's Physical Climate Risk Application and share recent and upcoming webinars.
In Focus: Will There be a Green Recovery?

Governments Include Climate Measures in Recovery Efforts
As many EU leaders commit to pursuing Europe's Green deal alongside recovery efforts, already approved measures in European countries also mandate that corporations consider climate goals during their use of relief funds. As part of its green recovery programs Germany invited over 400 listed companies to participate in a research project on how these firms are aligned with the EU Taxonomy, currently focused on climate mitigation and adaptation activities.

Meanwhile, Canada requires that large corporations commit to filing TCFD-aligned climate risk disclosures to receive specific bailouts. China's Politburo Standing Committee has endorsed new infrastructure spending of $1.4 trillion over five years for several low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicle charging, high-speed rail and others. However, the details and implementation are still unclear, with provincial governments having significant control, and many still in favor of traditional energy.

Low interest rates do make this a particularly good time for governments to invest in resilience and green infrastructure, with substantial return on investment over time. Though in the U.S. there is less indication that stimulus efforts will include significant measures to support a green recovery, with any current action coming scattered from some states. However, if Biden is elected in November the situation may change in the U.S. Biden's appointment of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as co-chair of his climate task force could signal an intent to favor green jobs to help the economy recover.

Moody's Webinar: COVID-19 and Climate Change

During last week's webinar Founder & CEO, Emilie Mazzacurati, joined Rahul Gosh, SVP, Credit Research & Strategy at Moody's, to discuss what organizations can learn from the pandemic to help prevent and prepare for climate change. Emilie discussed the impact on emissions, government responses and how these events can help companies understand the implications of carbon transition risk. Register for the webinar to watch the replay.
How Can Asset Owners Manage
Climate Risk?

Use Case - Climate Data for Risk Management in Real Asset Portfolios
As regulatory pressure to assess and report climate risks picks up, and physical climate hazards increasingly result in financial damage, asset owners face the daunting challenge of leveraging climate data for financial decision-making. Real estate, infrastructure, agriculture, timber and other real assets have long been an integral component of an asset owner’s portfolio due to their returns and the diversification they offer to the overall fund. However, many real assets are highly vulnerable to physical climate risks. These risks manifest in direct and indirect ways, including increased costs, reduced revenues and decreased asset value.

Evaluating an asset’s exposure to physical climate hazards is challenging, yet also an essential first step in managing climate risks. Four Twenty Seven’s Physical Climate Risk Application allows investors to assess exposure to floods, sea level rise, hurricanes & typhoons, heat stress and water stress at the asset and portfolio levels. Asset owners leverage hazard exposure scores to identify regional and sectoral trends as well as specific hotspots. Flexible viewing options and digestible data provide insight for portfolio risk assessments and due diligence processes. This new case study explores how, armed with climate risk data at decision-relevant scales, asset owners can begin to manage their risk. 
 
Read the Case Study
Regulatory Updates

Bank of England Postpones Climate Stress Tests
Earlier this month the Bank of England and the Prudential Regulatory Authority postponed its climate-related stress tests until at least mid-2021 to allow banks and insurers to focus on COVID-19 recovery efforts. The announcement emphasized the ambitious scope of the stress tests and the hope that the delay will allow firms to invest sufficient resources in the exercise when the time comes.

European Central Bank Publishes Guidance on Climate Risk Disclosure
Yesterday, the European Central Bank (ECB) published guidance asking banks to disclose their climate-related risks and integrate these risks into their risk management processes. Compliance will be expected when the guidelines are finalized at the end of the year. The ECB has solicited feedback through a public consultation open until September 25.

Update to the EU Non-financial Reporting Directive
The European Commission is soliciting feedback on its non-financial reporting directive as part of its efforts to improve oversight of non-financial reporting in alignment with its Green Deal and a global call for a new approach to regulating non-financial disclosure. Provide feedback by June 11.

European Commission Consultation on Climate Adaptation
As part of its Green Deal the European Commission has launched a climate adaptation strategy to encourage eco-friendly investments and build resilience. It is refining the initiative and soliciting feedback through a public consultation. Respond by June 30.
Four Twenty Seven Shortlisted in Waters Ranking 2020

Vote for Four Twenty Seven as Best Alternative Data Provider
Four Twenty Seven is honored to be short-listed in the Best Alternative Data Provider category in the 2020 Waters Rankings.
This readers' choice award recognizes the capital markets' leading technologies and providers. We'd be grateful for your vote! You can vote here before May 29. 
Webinars on Integrating Climate Risk into Financial Decision Making

IIF Webinar Recording: Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change
This Institute of International Finance webinar (IIF) features Emilie Mazzacurati, Founder & CEO of Four Twenty Seven, and Jing Zhang, Managing Director, Global Head of Quantitative Research at Moody’s, as they provide an overview of Moody’s climate risk solutions on the financial impacts of climate change. Watch now.

AllianceBernstein Webinar: Incorporating Climate Change into Investment Research
Please join us for a discussion about how the investment value chain is incorporating climate change into decision-making. Sara Rosner and David Wheeler, of AllianceBernstein, will discuss their collaboration with Columbia University on climate change and highlight the climate theme in their sustainable portfolios. Martina Macpherson, of Moody’s, will provide an overview of the current market environment and Moody's ESG and climate efforts, and Emilie Mazzacurati will present a deep dive into climate risk analytics. This webinar is next Wednesday, May 27 at 2pm BST / 9am EST / 6am PST. Register here.
Inside the Office at Four Twenty Seven

UK Sales Director - Ben Boukhobza
Four Twenty Seven welcomes Ben as UK Sales Director. Ben leads Four Twenty Seven’s business development and growth strategy in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Ben leverages ten years of experience across various roles within the Commercial Group at Moody’s Investors Service (MIS). Most recently Ben led the EMEA Sales Support team, having previously held roles ranging from sales and account management to operations and technology.

Join the team! Four Twenty Seven is Hiring

There are several opportunities to join Four Twenty Seven's dynamic team. See the open positions below and visit our Careers page for more information.
  • Project Manager with excellent leadership skills and proven experience coordinating activities across teams of different disciplines within research, content and technology
  • Regional Sales Director (North America) with extensive experience selling and supporting data products and services for large commercial, financial and government institutions
Upcoming Events

Join the team online at these upcoming events and check our Events page for updates, including registration links to webinars not yet available:
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Copyright © 2020 Four Twenty Seven, All rights reserved.
Four Twenty Seven sends a newsletter focused on bringing climate intelligence into economic and financial decision-making for investors, corporations and governments. Fill in the form below to join our mailing list. As data controller, we collect your email address with your consent in order to send you our newsletter. Four Twenty Seven will never share your mailing information with anyone and you may unsubscribe at any moment. Please read our Terms and Conditions.
 

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How Can Asset Owners Manage Climate Risk?

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

Introduction: Why Climate Risk Matters for Asset Owners

In the world where quarterly corporate reporting makes it feel like financial markets are ruled by short-termism, asset owners stand out in contrast, managing their portfolios with horizons in the decades and even longer. With trillions in assets under management and the long-term well-being of their beneficiaries and other stakeholders as their goal, asset owners’ risk management practices must be robust.  This includes the consideration of factors beyond traditional financial metrics. While their long horizon allows asset owners to withstand short-term volatility, their portfolios may be exposed to higher levels of other risks, including those posed by a changing climate, which is not necessarily accounted for in asset prices.

Additionally, regulatory actions like the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, growing global support of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and groups like the Network for Greening the Financial System, whose members include 42 central banks and supervisors, are pushing investors of all stripes to take physical climate risks into account, warning of dire systemic consequences if climate risks continue to go unpriced.

With climate risk moving from the fringes of finance to center stage, the challenge is to translate climate models and climate data into actionable intelligence for financial decision-making. Climate models are complex, incorporating information from many disciplines of earth science, and their outputs are unwieldy. However, when transformed into indicators at appropriate scales and timeframes, climate data provides essential forward-looking information for financial decision-makers.

Assessing Exposure to Inform Risk Management

Evaluating an asset’s exposure to physical climate hazards is challenging, yet also an essential first step in managing climate risks. Four Twenty Seven’s Physical Climate Risk Application (Application) allows investors to assess exposure to floods, sea level rise, hurricanes & typhoons, heat stress and water stress at the asset and portfolio levels. Asset owners leverage hazard exposure scores to identify regional and sectoral trends as well as specific hotspots. Flexible viewing options and digestible data provide insight for portfolio risk assessments and due diligence processes. Armed with climate risk data at decision-relevant scales, asset owners can begin to manage their risk.

Climate Data for Portfolio Management

Real estate, infrastructure, agriculture, timber and other real assets have long been an integral component of an asset owner’s portfolio due to their returns and the diversification they offer to the overall fund. However, many real assets are highly vulnerable to physical climate risks. These risks manifest in direct and indirect ways, including increased costs, reduced revenues, and decreased asset value.

Asset owners use Four Twenty Seven’s Application to evaluate forward-looking physical climate risk exposure. For example, the portfolio-specific summary table in Figure 1 provides a snapshot of exposure and serves as the starting point for the analysis of physical climate risks.  In this portfolio, hurricanes & typhoons, earthquakes, heat stress and water stress are the most prevalent hazards.

While asset owners frequently emphasize the hazards they view as most financially material—for instance floods, hurricanes, and sea level rise—heat stress and water stress can also have material financial impacts. For instance, a major heat wave across Europe in the summer of 2019 demonstrated how increasing temperatures can cause business disruptions and raise operating costs. Absent retrofits to address climate risks in European real estate, the total increase in energy bills for commercial buildings could potentially cost $300 billion (£457 billion) by 2050. Water stress, another potentially overlooked risk, can threaten the long-term operations of assets like thermal power plants that rely on large amounts of water for cooling. For example, Moody’s found that 11 major U.S. utilities representing over $31 billion in rate base have extreme risk to water stress, which has already caused some power utilities to retire capital-intensive generation facilities early.

In addition to providing an entry point for further analysis, metrics in the summary table are useful for risk reporting. As reporting requirements develop, outputs from the Physical Climate Risk Application will empower asset owners to effectively describe asset exposure, communicate how risks are being managed, and characterize their portfolios’ overall climate risk and resilience strategies.

Asset owners can also identify exposure hotspots, explore sectoral trends, and dive deeper into the exposure of individual assets. Figure 2 shows the same portfolio ranked by highest flood risk score. Floods can raise costs, cause business disruption, and decrease asset values.

Using the data in Figure 2, asset owners can consider shortening their holding periods for assets with the highest levels of exposure, ensure that they have appropriate insurance coverage, and evaluate if coverage or premium prices may rise in the future. As the climate changes, insurers’ risk tolerances may also reach their limits and they may seek to exit markets. It is thus essential for asset owners to monitor the evolving landscape. Beyond evaluating potential changes to insurance, asset owners can also use this data as an entry point for engagement with a building manager, to better understand the site’s flood history and investigate if the asset has flood defenses.

Institutional investors understand that, over the typical commercial real estate hold period of seven to ten years, the next buyer of their building is likely to be concerned by climate risk as well. The Application equips asset owners with the exposure data they need to make sure their portfolios are resilient to climate risks and continue to provide the returns they need and expect from the asset class.

Climate Data for Due Diligence

Beyond analyzing portfolios of existing holdings, the application’s real-time scoring allows asset owners to quickly incorporate physical climate analysis into their due diligence processes for new acquisitions. In addition to providing easily digestible, high-level screening results, granular climate data allows clients to continue to invest, for example, in valuable coastal markets with known exposure. Figure 3 shows exposure of nine facilities in Tokyo, where the combination of storm surge and sea level rise could cause $1 trillion (100 trillion yen) in damages in a 1-in-100 year storm. Because the sea level rise (and flood) data featured in the Application is at a scale of 90 x 90 meters, investors do not need to eliminate entire markets from their investment strategies. Rather than exiting a profitable market, asset owners can use the Four Twenty Seven Physical Climate Risk Application to selectively invest in assets with lower exposure.

Asset owners often use Four Twenty Seven data to set their own internal thresholds for further due diligence. Using the detailed site information, as shown in Figure 4, as well as the downloadable scorecard, analysts can quickly understand which hazards to investigate further.

Some investors require further due diligence for any assets that receive “High” or “Red Flag” scores. Deal teams may be tasked to investigate asset-specific features that would make it more resilient to specific climate hazards, such as freeboard above base flood elevation, onsite power generators, or water efficiency measures.

Conclusion

Real assets, whose time horizon of returns aligns well with the investment goals of asset owners, are exposed to physical hazards, which will continue to become more frequent and severe. Exploring asset-level climate hazard exposure is the first step to analyzing and ultimately managing physical climate risk. As regulation around climate risk rapidly evolves, mandates to monitor and report these risks will also expand. Equipped with a detailed understanding of their portfolio holdings’ exposure, asset owners are empowered to make better-informed investment and risk management decisions, ultimately enhancing the resilience of their portfolios to physical climate risk.

Download this case study.

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Four Twenty Seven offers on-demand physical climate risk scoring for real assets and other climate risk datasets for investors to assess their risk across asset classes. Learn more about Four Twenty Seven’s data or reach out to schedule a demo.

IIF Webinar: Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change

Posted on by Natalie Ambrosio

This Institute of International Finance webinar (IIF) features a discussion on quantifying the impacts of climate change into balance sheets and cash flows and provides an overview of Moody’s growing climate risk offering. This webinar is part of the IIF ESG Webinar series.

Speakers

  • Emilie Mazzacurati, Founder & CEO of Four Twenty Seven, discusses Four Twenty Seven’s process for quantifying the exposure of economic and financial assets to physical climate hazards and highlights collaborations with Moody’s.
  • Jing Zhang, Managing Director, Global Head of Quantitative Research at Moody’s, presents on translating physical risk metrics into financial metrics.
  • Sonja Gibbs, Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Finance, Global Policy Initiatives at IIF moderates the conversation.