Physical Climate Risk Assessment Services

Physical Climate Risk Assessment Services

International Education Company, Chiang Mai, Thailand

SLP Environmental was appointed to perform an environmental and social due diligence assessment (ESDD) as part of a transaction due diligence assignment on an international educational company with five large assets in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A supplementary Physical Climate Risk Assessment (PCRA) study was instructed by the client under the ESDD assignment as an Equator Principles requirement.

The primary objective of the (PCRA) was to assess the potential physical risks (as defined by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)) to the portfolio of assets, and thereby gauge the level of exposure of the potential investment to the physical consequences of climate change under a number of varying scenarios as recommended by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Climate Physical Risks are those risks resulting from climate change, which involve event driven (acute) or longer-term shifts (chronic) in climate patterns. Acute physical risks refer to those that are event-driven, including increased severity of extreme weather events such as cyclones, hurricanes, or floods. Chronic physical risks refer to longer-term shifts in climate patterns (e.g., sustained higher temperatures) that may cause sea level rise or chronic heat waves.

SLP performed a scenario-based analysis to evaluate the potential physical climate risk against different physical climate change scenarios adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 6th Assessment Report (AR6). These included Optimistic, Business as Usual and Pessimistic scenarios, which were assessed against defined timeline horizons (Baseline, 2030, 2040/50).

Potential hazards assessed under the assignment included Riverine Flooding, Drought, Water Stress, Tropical Cyclones and Wildfires.

Performing a TCFD-aligned physical climate risk assessment at the site level allowed our client to better understand the potential future impacts of climate change on the portfolio of assets, thereby aiding their decision making process.

The PCRA study was presented in a bespoke standalone report which included figures and charts to illustrate key findings.