A Guide to Managing Climate Risk types of Climate Risk Jobs
- georgiastrack
- May 19
- 4 min read
Climate risk is the potential negative effect on aspects of society, businesses and the environment that climate change can have. Due to climate change there is an ever growing risk of severe weather events that can cause damage to cities, towns and nearly every community. It used to be that we could rely on historic records of previous extremes but climate change has made that more difficult.
In order to gain some foresight and help manage the risk of these events, companies and businesses turn to climate risk modelling.
What is climate risk modelling?
Climate risk modelling is the process of using the latest science and data to help evaluate changes in the future weather and adapt to the impact of those changes. Data is being recorded constantly and is evolving with the newest technology to make climate risk modelling as reliable and accurate as possible. It is used to help organisations mitigate and build resilience to the effects of climate change in order to be best prepared for the unexpected.
Climate risk modelling cuts through the complexity and allows for key actions to be identified and considered in the decision making process. it helps deliver short and long term solutions that allow companies to reinforce consumer confidence.
Types of Climate Risk Models
There are two main types of climate risk models. Physical and transitional.
Physical models apply generally to the environment and surrounding areas and have two subsets. Acute physical risks come from natural events such as wildfires or floods. These are the risks that most companies prepare for as they are unfortunately becoming more and more common. It is important to measure them and the increase in their frequency to help companies adapt to change.
There are also longer term physical risks such as higher mean temperatures and rising sea temperatures. It is necessary to model the trajectory of these in order to measure the wider impact they may have, such as the effect on agriculture or even the spread of disease.
Transition risks take into account the large scale transformations that are needed in systems and policies to help shift to a low carbon economy. Companies face risk over their assets turning out to less valuable after a transition. Transition risks shine a light on changing business models and behaviours. Climate transition helps provide opportunities for new technology and solutions while also allowing companies to benefit from potential benefits stemming from good reputation.
Getting an overview and factoring in all types of climate risk models can help provide a more comprehensive idea for future projections.
How can companies prepare for climate risks?
Most companies expect climate change to have a major impact on their businesses and operations over the coming years. The changing climate can create a number of risks, either to their assets, supply chain or other issues. It’s important to prepare for climate risk to ensure that a company can identify the risk and mitigate this risk. For example, you might be a food manufacturing company that makes pasta and you have projected that you will create a certain number of products in the next 5 years. However, you may not have considered the impact of climate on your supply chain for the wheat needed to create the pasta product.
Equally, you may have assets in a particular geographic area that could be affected by risk such as wildfire, high precipitation or volcanic activity, all climate risk that would affect the performance of your asset, and risk that you need to consider.
As risks intensify, action must be taken to address climate risks. A key factor in preparing for climate risk is ensuring the solutions have long-term value and usability. Companies need to factor in changing regulations and ensure their companies can grow and adapt to ensure they meet regulations as well as business goals.
There are a variety of climate risk platforms available for businesses to engage with. An important aspect involved with those is that they are consolidating data from a variety of sources to aim for as accurate analysis as possible. With climate risk platforms it is also vital to ensure they have a wide user interface so that it can be tailored to meet the needs of the company and employees across multiple departments can access sustainability data without having to be trained experts in the field.
Businesses that integrate the management of climate risk into their daily workings are more resilient in the face of threat which reduces their vulnerability and aids in new growth.
Jobs in Climate Risk
Curious about the types of climate risk jobs we work on? Jobs for Planet specialises in helping climate-risk software start-up hire exceptional talent.
Jobs in climate risk platforms can cover a wide variety of functions. Here are some examples of the types of roles that Jobs for Planet work on and specialise in.
Climate Risk Account Executive (Sales)
Solutions Engineer/Pre Sales Engineer
Customer Success Manager
Data Analyst
Other relevant roles that cover climate risk and would be in consulting departments or in-house sustainability departments:
Risk Manager
Head of Sustainability
Sustainability Consultant
Addressing climate risk is crucial. The impending and intensifying threats that climate change poses demands critical action forth business. If you’re looking for talent with the climate-risk expertise contact Jobs for Planet for a call to discuss your hiring needs. Book a meeting with us here
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