Real Estate Investors Need to Prepare (Bloomberg)

https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/insight-real-estate-investors-need-to-prepare-for-climate-change-before-its-too-late?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=NEVE&utm_campaign=0000016b-e204-d379-a17b-e22e9d750001

The impacts of climate change, including rising seas and extreme weather events, are quickly emerging as formidable challenges for the real estate industry and our cities.

Moody’s recently warned cities to take steps to prepare for climate change or face downgrades in their bond ratings. Last year, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and the U.N.-backed Sustainable Insurance Forum outlineduniversal standards for how insurers should account for climate risks.

Neither of these actions should be surprising, because the consequences of climate change are only growing costlier. Natural disasters caused a record $300 billion in damage in the U.S. in 2017, most of it to real estate.

Author: Christopher K. Merker, Ph.D., CFA

Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, is a director with Private Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co. He holds a PhD in investment governance and fiduciary effectiveness from Marquette University, where he has taught the course “Sustainable Finance” since 2009. Executive director of Fund Governance Analytics (FGA), an ESG research partnership with Marquette University, he is a member of the CFA Institute ESG Working Group, an international committee currently exploring ESG standards, publishes the blog, Sustainable Finance, which covers current topics around governance and sustainability in investing, and is co-author of the book, The Trustee Governance Guide: The Five Imperatives of 21st Century Investing.