AOSC Seminar by Dr. Bob Brammer, 09/10/2020
AOSC Seminar
Dr. Bob Brammer
Brammer Technology, LLC
Title: An Introductory Survey of Corporate and Investment Climate Finance and Implications for Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Professionals and Students
Abstract:
The growing significance of climate change is having profound effects on corporations and investors in
many ways, including material risks as well as new opportunities. Nearly half of the S&P 500 companies, the 500
largest US corporations, discussed the effects of climate change in their businesses in their 2019 annual reports.
These effects create many opportunities for research and education in climate change and new synergies among
several academic disciplines, including the earth sciences, finance, economics, law, and others.
“Climate finance” integrates climate-related issues into decision-making on allocating financial
resources. In particular, “corporate climate finance” is a subset of climate finance focusing on corporate
matters, and “investment climate finance” is a subset of climate finance focusing on investment issues. The
focus of this presentation will be on these two aspects of climate finance. These subsets are complementary to
other areas like “public policy environmental finance” that are not part of this presentation.
Earlier this year, the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest financial asset management firm, said, “I
believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance. The evidence on climate risk is compelling
investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance.” Since estimates of financing required to reach
net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 are as high as $50 trillion, corporate and investment climate finance has
become a highly active field with continuing opportunities for significant scientific and financial innovation.
Executives need information about extreme weather and climate developments whose quality is much
better than what is available from current science to assess business risks and investment opportunities.
Specifically, forecasts must be available in sub-seasonal to decadal periods with higher spatial and temporal
resolution than we see in current services. The presentation will summarize some promising developments in
these areas, including their implementation using artificial intelligence and advanced computing architectures.
Extreme weather and climate forecast information must be available in forms that support business
decision-making and risk management. The presentation includes examples of climate-related business and
investment decision challenges that can be supported by improved information and measures of uncertainty.
The presentation will conclude with some examples of potential sources of research problems and
funding as well as possible career opportunities for graduates with interdisciplinary backgrounds.
Contact: Tim Canty
AOSC Seminar
Pre-seminar refreshment: N/A
Seminar: 3:30-4:30pm, Zoom
Meet-the-Speaker: 4:30-5:00pm, Zoom [For AOSC Students only]
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