“Climate risk is investment risk,” according to Larry Fink’s 2020 annual letter to CEOs. And on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, three of the largest oil and gas companies in the world discovered firsthand what the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager meant:

  • Chevron shareholders voted to force the company to come up with a plan for cutting its emissions, including its customers’.
  • A Dutch court ordered Shell to cut its emissions in half by 2030.
  • ExxonMobil shareholders voted to install at least two new pro-environment directors to the company’s board.

Climate risk is also an enterprise, technological, and operational risk — because now, each of these fossil fuel firms must come up with a plan to transition away from fossil fuels and evolve into a renewable energy provider.

No industry is immune to the transition risks involved in the sustainability transformation nor the physical risks posed by the climate crisis. All companies must transform how they operate and what they offer to become environmentally and economically sustainable while withstanding the increasingly severe and disruptive physical impacts of climate change. These include rising temperatures and seas, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events such as the historic wildfires in California last year and record-setting drought in 2021.

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Face the business risks of climate change head on

To learn more about how Forrester can help accelerate your firm’s sustainability and climate risk management strategy, check out our report, “The State Of Environmental Sustainability In The Fortune Global 200,” see our related content in our new sustainability hub, and connect with us online or through inquiry and briefings.