This case study describes a review of climate-related risks with an international pharmaceutical company that had sophisticated frameworks for governance, risk management and corporate social responsibility (CSG).

The company wanted to develop a comprehensive strategy for dealing with climate change and its effects, encompassing:

• Direct effects on manufacturing and business operations, including supply chains
• Indirect effects, including those associated with government and regulatory policies in the countries in which the company operates, and the CSR reporting requirements of securities exchanges and other stakeholders.

The work was a component of the company’s broad strategy for climate change. The intent of the strategy was to:

• Ensure the company had a risk management framework for climate change that would be flexible and adaptable as new information and new policies relating to the climate came to light
• Provide the company with a realistic view of the climate-related risks it was likely to face, so it could take early action where appropriate
• Enable it to demonstrate to its stakeholders that it had addressed climate change and its effects thoroughly.

The case outlines how the approach was adjusted to take account of the focus on medium- and long-term effects of climate change and climate policy, the sophistication of the client team, previous risk assessments, and the need to generate an understanding of climate-related uncertainties to support strategic decisions.

Read the full case study here.