Physical Climate Risk Data: A Primer and Evaluation

A wide range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data vendors are now providing physical climate risk data in addition to traditional carbon data. In this piece, we discuss how this development of data — which has just landed in the ESG space within the last few years — can be acquired and used by investors. We also provide insights into the current shortfalls of physical climate risk data; like many types of ESG data, conclusions must be drawn with a critical eye and standardization is lacking across vendors. We believe that this information can indeed be used, in conjunction with other climate inputs, to drive investable strategies, but users need to be aware of the substantial differences that can arise from leveraging one vendor over another, or from focusing on a particular scenario or set of criteria.