- Climate Proof
- Posts
- What Did S&P 500 Companies Say About Climate Risk and Resilience in Q2?
What Did S&P 500 Companies Say About Climate Risk and Resilience in Q2?
Hurricanes and heat waves attracted airtime on US corporations' earnings calls
Louie Woodall
September 05, 2024
AI-generated via DALL-E
Hi there, free subscribers to Climate Proof!
This is a premium article, available to paying subscribers only. You can check out the TL;DR below, and if you like what you read, be sure to upgrade your subscription.
Remember, paid subscribers also get full access to the S&P 500 Climate Physical Risk Signals Dashboard on which this article is based👇
TL;DR
Climate Proof analyzed S&P 500 earnings call transcripts for Q2 2024 to find out what climate risks, and responses, America’s top executives are talking about
Lots of businesses referenced hurricane and storm impacts, which was to be expected given the impact Hurricanes Beryl and Debby had on broad swathes of the US economy
The June/July heat waves were also referenced by a handful of companies, underlining this extreme weather threat’s salience in recent months
Not all references to climate risks were negative. For example, one company says the aftermath of Beryl is expected to increase its earnings this year. This demonstrates how climate adaptation and resilience represents a financial opportunity for some
High-impact climate risks have plagued the US in recent months. Two major hurricanes — Beryl and Debby — ripped through a number of states, bringing with them floods, wind damage, and all kinds of headaches for beleaguered utilities companies.
If that wasn’t enough, much of the country sweated under a series of grueling heat waves in June and July. Millions were warned of health risks if they ventured outdoors unprotected, and labor productivity is likely to have dropped as the high temperatures took their toll.
But how did America’s top companies perform under this meteorological assault? And what did executives deign to tell investors on their impacts?
Climate Proof has the answers. In today’s post, we pore over the Q2 earnings call transcripts of hundreds of blue chip firms to divine what was said about an array of climate risks, and build a picture of how the top dogs in the US economy are responding to their impacts.
The articles have been unlocked so that free subscribers can get a taste of the perks offered to paying subscribers.
Paying subscribers also get to play around with the underlying data dashboard here👇
Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.
Become a paying subscriber of Premium to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.
Already a paying subscriber? Sign In