Investors seek better hurricane risk disclosure
David Brancaccio: The hurricane season begins officially today. As weather gets more severe and unpredictable, it’s not just the insurance industry that’s vulnerable.
As Marketplace’s Scott Tong reports from the Sustainability Desk, some investor groups are pressuring companies to disclose their exposure to these risk in greater detail.
Scott Tong: Stronger and more frequent storms have insurance companies pulling out of parts of the Bahamas and Florida. Seed companies are designing more weatherproof crops. An oil company is moving pipes out of hurricane harms’ way.
They’re all hedging against climate risk. And investors want more companies to disclose more about their risk.
Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp chairs the state’s $36 billion state pension system.
Nancy Kopp: As investors the large funds budget not only money, we try to budget risk. We try to know what areas are more risky than others. We have to know that the companies in which we invest recognize the risks which they face.
The new report, from Calvert Investments and Oxfam, suggests how companies can disclose climate risk in a way investors can compare. Some of that’s already happening: the federal government requires disclosure, and firms can volunteer info.
But different firms report different things, so it’s a muddled Tower of Babeling data for investors.
In Washington, I’m Scott Tong for Marketplace.
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