MONTHLY NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2019
Woods Hole Research Center Strong early returns in partnerships to quantify climate risks
Scientists push back on spike in Amazon deforestation by Miles Grant
Dr. Philip B. Duffy President & Executive Director One of my hopes and goals, when WHRC began working with the investment industry, was that making investors more aware of physical climate risk (i.e. business risks from extreme weather, etc.) would increase awareness of this important risk category in the broader corporate world.
An important step in that direction took place this month with the release by Wellington Management and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) of guidelines for corporate disclosure of physical climate risk. These guidelines, a direct result of WHRC’s work with Wellington and CalPERS, encourage companies to assess and disclose their physical climate risk—as distinct from risks associated with possible climate policies such as carbon taxes. Physical climate risks include, for example, risks to company-owned infrastructure from storms or flooding, risks to supply chains from various forms of extreme weather, and risks associated with customer migration or loss of prosperity, which may be climate-related. We believe that when corporations start to look at their exposures to physical climate risk, they will be impressed with the scope and scale of near term risks. This has been the case with Wellington and CalPERS themselves, and it has been interesting and rewarding to see the personal journeys of individuals we’ve worked with as they gain more appreciation of the risks posed by climate change. As more corporations understand their physical risks from climate change, this will send the message that climate change is a threat to the corporate bottom line. This is absolutely critical in mobilizing the private sector to address climate change, because it makes doing that an act of self-interest rather than a corporate social responsibility. To state it plainly, understanding the near term risks means that even those interested only in profit will be
Partnerships continued on next page
Human-caused fires in Brazil captured the world’s attention this summer, shining a renewed spotlight on the need to conserve the Amazon rainforest. With partners at IPAM Amazônia, WHRC scientists pushed for action on deforestation. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office last year promising to limit indigenous rights and expand industry in the Amazon. In April, his administration announced authorities would no longer burn equipment used in illegal mining and logging operations to stop it from being used elsewhere. Those policies contributed to a doubling of deforestation under Bolsonaro, with a corresponding surge in forest fires set to clear downed trees.
This year’s Brazilian Amazon fires have produced between 104 and 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to an analysis by scientists at WHRC and IPAM Amazônia. That’s equivalent to annual tailpipe carbon pollution from 22.6 to 30.6 million cars, or the annual CO2 emissions from the entire state of North Carolina. This summer, WHRC experts have been featured in nearly 200 news stories about the Amazon fires, reaching an estimated audience of 656 million, according to Meltwater media monitoring. WHRC Adjunct Scientist Dr. Paulo Brando also testified before Brazil’s National Congress. The international outcry has sparked boycotts of Brazilian leather by companies like Timberland, H&M, and The North Face, and imperiled a trade deal with Europe. In September, Bolsonaro launched a costly effort to reverse the failure to prevent the fires in the first place, sending 800 soldiers and agents to the Amazon to put out fires, look for illegal activity, and resume burning illegal equipment. WHRC will continue working to protect tropical forests in the Amazon and around the world, including at the upcoming COP 25 climate talks in Santiago, Chile.
WHRC is an independent research organization where scientists study climate change and how to solve it, from the Amazon to the Arctic. Learn more at www.whrc.org.