Introduction
As climate change progresses, the risks for businesses are not only evident but also quantifiable. According to estimates from Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS) and Deloitte, without immediate action, global climate-related economic losses could accumulate to as much as $178 trillion between 2021 and 2070.
Zurich Resilience Solutions’ Climate Spotlight Platform
To tackle this growing threat, Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS) introduced Climate Spotlight, a self-service digital platform that enables companies to identify, assess, and report their exposure to physical climate risks such as hurricanes, wildfires, or flooding, with projections until 2100.
Relevance and Application
This tool is beneficial for both public and private entities, aligning with international regulatory frameworks like the TCFD and CSRD, which are increasingly relevant in Latin America. For Mexico, the application is critical: Hurricane Otis in 2023 caused $16 billion in damages in Acapulco, affecting 80% of its hotel infrastructure.
Key Features
Climate Spotlight operates on three pillars: a simple upload of geographical coordinates, an interactive control panel that visualizes risk evolution by threat type and region, and downloadable reports integrated into ESG or investment reports.
In addition to its basic version, ZRS offers Climate Spotlight Expert, a customized alternative for companies with complex operations, allowing detailed economic analyses and loss estimations. Both versions operate under four time horizons: present, short-term, medium-term, and long-term.
Contextual Factors
The launch of Climate Spotlight comes at a time when the physical impacts of climate change combine with increased regulatory pressures and sustainability expectations from investors. For Zurich, climate change prevention and resilience have become key pillars of their insurance services.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS)? ZRS is a division of Zurich Insurance Group that focuses on climate risk assessment and management, providing tools and services to help businesses understand and mitigate climate-related risks.
- What is the Climate Spotlight platform? Climate Spotlight is a digital, self-service tool developed by Zurich Resilience Solutions that allows companies to identify, evaluate, and report their exposure to physical climate risks.
- Why is Climate Spotlight relevant for businesses? The platform helps companies understand their climate risk exposure, enabling them to make informed decisions and take proactive measures to build resilience against climate change impacts.
- What are the key features of Climate Spotlight? The platform offers simple geographical coordinate uploads, an interactive control panel visualizing risk evolution by threat type and region, and downloadable reports for integration into ESG or investment reports. It also provides a customized version (Climate Spotlight Expert) for complex operations with detailed economic analyses and loss estimations.
- What contextual factors influence the need for climate risk assessment tools like Climate Spotlight? Increasing regulatory pressures, investor expectations for sustainability, and the growing physical impacts of climate change make tools like Climate Spotlight essential for businesses to build resilience and manage climate-related risks effectively.
