WTW Climate Quantified™ at New York Climate Week 2022

During New York Climate Week in September 2022, WTW convened climate leaders, invited academics and sector experts at our Midtown Experience Center to showcase best-in-class analytics, practical solutions and client stories from our people, risk and capital businesses, across physical, transition and liability themes, to empower organizations to prosper in the coming climate decade.

Attendees were part of cutting-edge discussions on the resilient, net zero transition and the latest developments in regulation, disclosure and investor demands across the below events:

Climate Quantified™: Physical

From Physics into Finance: How to Avoid the Black Box with Climate Quantified™- The Future of Physical Climate Risk Analytics, Disclosure & Management

The role analytics plays in supporting organizations, societies and economies in the challenges they face in building resilience and adapting to a changing climate was explored through a series of analytical showcase demonstrations. Powered by WTW’s Climate Quantified™ engine of climate data, using the latest climate risk and natural catastrophe models, robust methods and expertise, the case studies highlighted the application of science and evaluation needed to enable and evidence collective risk management strategies, from corporates understanding their physical climate risk to modelling Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).

Presentations from three WTW Research Network academics; Adam Sobel (Columbia University), James Done (National Center for Academic Research), and Gabriele Villarini (University of Iowa), reinforced the importance of robust, science-based approaches to climate risk assessments, and the need to understand climate variability and uncertainty.

The event closed with a panel session, moderated by WTW’s Susan Doering, joined by panellists Santiago Lopez (Diageo), Bessie Schwarz (Cloud to Street), Joseph Noss (WTW) and Hannah Nissan (WTW). The panel shared their expert views and experiences on strategic and regulatory climate challenges and the role of analytics.

Climate Quantified™: Parametrics

From Coral Reefs to Credit Risk: Nature-Related Risks and the Protective Role of Parametric Insurance

This event, co-hosted by WTW and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), highlighted nature-related risks and the protective role of insurance. Gwynne Taraska (Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate) provided opening remarks, emphasizing the importance of ocean-related issues in achieving the Paris Agreement goals, followed by a scene setting on the power of insurance by Dr. Simon Young (Senior Director at WTW).

A video presentation on post-disaster reef by Zara Zuniga (Research Associate and Brigade Leader at the Bay Islands Conservation Authority in Honduras) provided a powerful illustration of the importance of pre-arranged, trigger-based financing to enable rapid response. Finally, the event featured a panel moderated by Dr. Karen Sack (Executive Director at ORRAA) consisting of Michai Robertson (Advisor at the Alliance of Small Island States), Pierre Bardoux-Chesneau (Head of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs) and Tony Long (CEO of Global Fishing Watch). They each provided their perspectives on how insurance can contribute to designing innovative yet practical solutions to help create a more resilient planet.

Climate Quantified™: Transition

Climate Transition Risk - Data Disclosure: Should the E in ESG be all about Emissions?

Data & disclosure are at the heart of the transition to net zero, whether it’s developing a decarbonisation plan or disclosing climate-related financial risks. In this session introduced by Diya Luke, Growth Acceleration Leader at WTW, Heather Boushey, member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, opened with a summary of the Biden administration’s plans to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to see a 40% reduction of carbon emissions by the end of the decade, and regulatory measures to increase the transparency around climate-related risks that will enable the flow of capital towards a net-zero transition.

The panel session drew together thought leaders from the investment community to discuss the challenges of gaps in data, the benefits and obstacles in setting net zero targets and disclosing climate-related risks. David Nelson, Senior Director in the Climate & Resilience Hub, introduced WTW’s research platform which integrates our Climate Transition Value at Risk (CTVaR) metrics, and our partners at Qontigo closed the session with a demonstration of the benefits of investing in the Climate Transition Index based on CTVaR.

Climate Quantified™: Human Capital

Drive Your Corporate Climate Strategy: Engaging and Mobilizing Your People

Introduced by Diana Fox Carney, Strategic Advisor to WTW, this event explored how organisations can develop effective programmes to provide their people with the relevant knowledge, skills and support to drive their corporate climate strategies forward.

The first session, hosted by Dr Lydia Messling and Will Bugler, Learning and Engagement experts within WTW’s Climate and Resilience Hub, provided useful tips, based on psychological and social science research, for having more impactful conversations. They argued that firms need to make time and space to engage colleagues in constructive dialogues on climate change.

The second session explored how companies might achieve this in practice. Holly Teal, Client Relationship Director at WTW, presented a model for engaging employees on climate that focusses on 4 key areas: Informing, Inspiring, Engaging and Upskilling. This framework formed the basis of an engaging panel discussion, hosted by Diana Fox Carney, where participants heard from expert panellists Annie Stilts, Sustainability Analyst at Boeing, Suzanne McAndrew, Global Leader of Employee Experience at WTW, and Caroline Mangiardi, Senior Associate, Health & Benefits at WTW.

The final session looked at why it is so crucial for company boards to engage with the issue, and how to take the first steps in engaging your board and senior management with climate-related risk. The session included a presentation of the Remuneration Committee’s role in managing climate risk by Michael Siu, Senior Director, Executive Compensation and Board Advisory at WTW, a presentation of WTW’s Climate Vista approach to board engagement, and a highly-engaging ‘fireside chat’ with Karina Litvack, NED, ENI & Chair of the Board, Climate Governance Initiative hosted by Shai Ganu Executive Compensation Global practice leader at WTW.

WTW Financial Services Industry Roundtable

At the end of NYCW, WTW convened a financial services industry roundtable. The event brought together around twenty-five of WTW’s clients across the banking, insurance and asset management sectors. Participants discussed a range of issues connected to the implications of climate-related risks for financial firms, and the steps being taken to mitigate these. These included the use of scenario analysis, how best to scale sustainable finance, including blending public and private sector capital, recent developments concerning regulation, and challenges concerning the integration of climate-related risks into traditional metrics of risk used by financial firms.

Videos from New York Climate Week 2022