The Materiality of Climate Risk

Evidence from a global survey of nearly 700 investors and companies shows that investors consider climate risk to be financially material and to represent regulatory and litigation risk, whereas far fewer companies believe they are exposed to climate risks, diverge in their perspectives on the types of risks and consequently few make any disclosures about it. Investors state difficulties with identifying and quantifying risks due to the lack of disclosures as the main challenge in assessing the impact of climate change. The findings suggest that current disclosure practices do not provide investors with adequate information about climate-related financial risks.