{"id":564642,"date":"2023-01-03T05:55:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=564642"},"modified":"2024-05-10T06:19:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:19:45","slug":"bringing-climate-risk-assessments-in-house-with-gis","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/bringing-climate-risk-assessments-in-house-with-gis","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Climate Risk Assessments In-House with GIS"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[471742,1441,483642,1461],"department":[476792,488822],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-564642","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-climate-risk","tag-resilience","tag-risk-analysis","tag-sustainability","department-cxo-priorities","department-sustainability-risk"],"acf":{"short_description":"By leveraging GIS analysis and internal expertise, one company created climate risk assessments for its assets.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Executives today are taking the threat of climate change to business continuity more seriously than ever. In a 2022 Bloomberg survey, 85 percent of financial firms said they\u2019ve started making climate risk assessments<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Article snapshot:<\/strong> An inside look at how one global owner of office space, retail stores, and residential dwellings leveraged GIS analysts to gauge climate risk","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"However, no two businesses face the same exposure to climate risks. The location and nature of operations shape a firm\u2019s unique vulnerabilities to environmental disruption. That has given rise to a cottage industry of consultants who tailor climate impact analysis to individual companies, but whose services can come at a steep cost.\r\n\r\nFor many businesses, a more direct solution can be found in software they already use: geographic information system (GIS)<\/a> technology. Bouwinvest, a major real estate investment firm based in the Netherlands, is among the companies using existing GIS capabilities to incorporate climate risk analysis<\/a> into its investment strategy.\r\n\r\n\u201cI think a lot of our peers don\u2019t have the in-house knowledge of the climate maps,\u201d says Robert Wagenaar, Bouwinvest\u2019s head of portfolio operations and transactions. \u201cWe find it really important to have the in-house knowledge about how it works, and to be able to make our own analysis.\u201d\r\n

The Power of a Climate Risk Assessment Map<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nOne of the largest real estate investors in the Netherlands, Bouwinvest oversees about $17 billion in property investments globally, with $11 billion of that in the Netherlands, where the company owns and operates residential buildings, office space, retail locations, and other real estate assets. Internationally, the company has $6 billion invested jointly with partners on the ground in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.\r\n\r\nWagenaar advises decision-makers at Bouwinvest\u2019s investment offices in those regions, providing insight that includes climate risk assessments<\/a>. To deliver these assessments, he relies on the location intelligence<\/a> generated by the internal GIS team, composed of GIS administrator Rutger de Koning and GIS analyst Robert Mens.\r\n\r\nA climate risk map created by de Koning and Mens informs investment strategy by contextualizing threats and opportunities posed by flooding, heat stress, wildfires, and other environmental factors.\r\n\r\n\u201cBy having the internal experts and the internal expertise, we as an investment team are discussing the climate scenarios, and the knowledge [of] the whole Bouwinvest team is getting better,\u201d Wagenaar told WhereNext<\/em>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":564582,"text":"For the largest assets, we use the climate maps as a starting point for engagement with our local managers.","author_name":"Robert Wagenaar, Bouwinvest","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

How Location Intelligence Leads to Better Risk Assessments<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nBouwinvest\u2019s GIS climate dashboard pinpoints the location of the firm\u2019s investments around the world and indicates the relative size of each. A color-coding system expresses the severity of climate risk in each area. An investment manager can zoom out to see which regions the company is most heavily invested in, or where the biggest single investments are."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Climate Resilience\u2014Best Practices<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBouwinvest\u2019s Rutger de Koning shared details on how the team assesses climate risk on a recent WhereNext<\/em> webcast, which also features a climate analyst from Fannie Mae. The recording is available on demand<\/a>.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Alternately, by zooming in to a block-by-block view and toggling through climate-specific scenarios, decision-makers can see how individual properties might handle extreme precipitation or heat.\r\n\r\nThese insights inform discussions with building operators on mitigation measures\u2014like raising building foundations or installing green roofs\u2014that can make the properties more resilient.\r\n\r\nWith spatial analysis from GIS, Mens and de Koning tailor data to answer specific questions from Wagenaar\u2019s team, allowing for more precise assessments. For instance, Mens\u2019 and de Koning\u2019s experience with classifying climate data showed them that 20 centimeters\u2014or just shy of eight inches\u2014is a tipping point when it comes to property damage from waterlogging. Water levels below that mark are less of a concern while floods projected to surpass 20 centimeters represent a threat. Their climate risk map automatically incorporates such criteria, highlighting developments and properties that have a high risk of waterlogging.\r\n\r\n\u201cBecause we have all the data in-house, we can also do the analyses relatively quickly,\u201d de Koning explains."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":564592,"text":"We are attracting young people, not just because we're a real estate investing company, because we are taking climate adaptation and climate very seriously, and that resonates.","author_name":"Rutger de Koning, Bouwinvest ","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Balancing Gross Risk and Net Risk <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nMens and de Koning carry out two main forms of analysis: climate risk assessments for buildings or portfolios under consideration for investment, and annual risk assessments for all of Bouwinvest\u2019s assets under management.\r\n\r\nWhich means that before they are data analysts, they are data wranglers. They pull a variety of sources into GIS, including:\r\n