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UW Climate Risk Lab

The UW Climate Risk Lab (CRL) is a multidisciplinary research and innovation center based at the University of Washington Foster School of Business in the Department of Finance & Business Economics. Established in 2022, it advances data and technology solutions to issues in climate-related financial risk for corporate and government decision-makers. Phillip Bruner, co-founder of the CRL, currently serves as its Executive Director.

The CRL brings together academics and professionals in climate finance, risk management, business analytics, data engineering, computer science, atmospheric sciences, supply chains management, information systems and AI. It collaborates with several initiatives within the University of Washington (UW), which include the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, Clean Energy Institute, Creative Destruction Lab, eSciences Institute and Urban Infrastructure Lab. Its external partners include: the Duke Energy Data Analytics Lab, the Pacific Northwest Mission Accelerator Center, and Washington Maritime Blue.

History

The CRL originated in 2022 with a grant from the Office of UW President Ana Marie Cauce made to the Foster School of Business, Department of Finance & Business Economics. The idea was then developed by a team lead by Phillip Bruner, UW Professor of Sustainable Finance, Charlie Donovan, Senior Economic Advisor at Impax Asset Management, Sam Shugart, New Product & Services Market Analyst at Puget Sound Energy and Simon Park, Harvard graduate and Fellow of the UW Evans School of Public Policy.

Steering Committee

The CRL Steering Committee is currently made up of the following members:

Phillip Bruner, Professor of Sustainable Finance and CRL Executive Director

Léonard Boussioux, Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management

Charlie Donovan, Senior Economic Advisor at Impax Asset Management and CRL Leadership Council Chair

Emer Dooley, Artie Buerk Faculty Fellow and Site Lead at Creative Destruction Lab

Dale Durran, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Adjunct Professor of Applied Mathematics

Kristie Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Founder of the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment

Sara Jones, Director of the Masters of Supply Chain Management and Master of Science in Business Analytics

Dan Schwartz, Boeing-Sutter Professor of Chemical Engineering and Founding Director of the Clean Energy Institute

Jan Whittington, Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Design and Planning and Founding Director of the Urban Infrastructure Lab

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Climate-related Financial Risk

Climate change is already impacting the Earth dramatically, and the continued rise in greenhouse gas emissions will cause further warming of the planet, leading to significant socio-economic consequences. These impacts pose substantial risks to businesses, particularly those in vulnerable industries, affecting their credit profiles, share prices, and overall financial stability.

While the general understanding that climate change poses risks is widely accepted, it is not enough for lenders, investors, or regulators to act effectively without a clearer definition of the specific financial risks. These risks need to be quantified in terms of their scope, timing, and probability of occurrence. Identifying and understanding climate-related financial risks early on is critical, as they can lead to reduced asset utilization or valuation, decreased income, and lower profit margins. These financial impacts can translate into increased credit risk, influencing lenders' decisions and reshaping the financial profiles of affected industries.

There are two categories of climate-related financial risk, according to the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): (or TCFD divided climate risks into two major categories)

• Transition Risks: Risks related to the transition to a lower-carbon economy. [Read more]
• Physical Risks: Risks related to the physical impacts of climate change. [Read more]

Climate-Related Risks, Opportunities, and Financial Impact

Source: Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

Data

The risk of climate change impacts results from dynamic interactions among climate-related hazards, the exposure and vulnerability of affected human and ecological systems, and also responses (see section 1.2.1 of IPCC AR6 WG2), as illustrated by Figure 2.

The data needed for climate risk assessment is therefore organized into three key areas: climate hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, for the two types of climate risks below:

• Data for physical risk assessment
• Data for transition risk assessment

Determinants of Climate Risk

Source: IPCC AR6 WG2

References