14 Virtual Brochure – March 2025 Commentary on significant and increasing risks 1.6 Climate change and environmental sustainability ppt in 2024 In the ECIIA’s 2019 report, 8% of respondents to their survey rated climate change and environmental sustainability as a top five strategic risk. While this percentage has fluctuated year-on-year, the overall trend is steadily upwards, with 33% flagging it as a top five risk in the 2025 report and a majority expecting risks to increase further. In part, this reflects concerns around compliance with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as noted above. However, businesses also highlight growing concerns about physical risks to their buildings, infrastructure and suppliers. In response some are turning to weather modelling data and simulations to explore the potential impacts of storms, flooding or extreme heat, and to develop contingency plans for different scenarios. Considerations for HE Environmental sustainability risks feature on around a third of institutional strategic risk registers in Uniac’s sample. Risks are often described in simple terms, although we note that some institutions are breaking this down to describe more specifically the vulnerabilities of their estates to climate change, risks to staff and students, risks to their local environment, and risks to realising net zero. While most institutions publish some form of annual sustainability report, recent research 6 suggests that institutions tend to focus on reporting “visible interventions” such as energy efficiency and recycling rather than addressing more difficult but necessary social and cultural challenges. We noted last year that only 4% of institutions were reported to have undertaken any scenario modelling of the impacts of climate change on strategy and finances, and there is little indication that this has changed substantially. We encourage institutions to consider: - How are climate change and environmental sustainability risks reflected in strategic planning, scenarios and business continuity planning? - Are climate change risks adequately reflected in strategic risk registers? - Are you collecting and analysing the right data about your climate risk exposure and sustainability performance? - How are you gaining assurance about the validity of climate related data and KPIs, including across supply chains and partners? 5 https://srheblog.com/2024/05/08/unveiling-the-role-of-sustainability-reporting-in- uk-universities/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTI5NzM=