After sharing foundational insights in our first blog post, our Sustainable Investing Research Consulting Project reached a crucial point with the delivery of a comprehensive literature review. This review analyzed the impacts of physical climate risks across various industries, discussing different ranking systems and the specific effects on each industry, highlighting our approach to assessing sustainability.
We invested a lot of effort into this literature review and learned a great deal in the process. A key lesson was our initial reliance on a single source from S&P for industry rankings. We soon realized this limited our ability to provide a broad view of how physical climate risks impact industries. By adding sources from MSCI and Moody’s, we enhanced the credibility and depth of our conclusions. We also recognized the need to improve our use of visual aids in our presentations. Adding Venn diagrams to show overlapping industries and climate risks among different ranking systems made our findings clearer and more engaging. This change showed our ability to adapt and respond to feedback effectively.
Our project featured two important presentations: one to classmates and another to investors at our client's company. Both presentations shared the same content but served different purposes. The initial classroom presentation acted as a rehearsal, refining our approach through the feedback received. This feedback illuminated areas needing further clarity and emphasis, guiding our preparation for the subsequent investor meeting. We then presented the refined deck to the investors at our client’s company. Their feedback was incredibly valuable, aiding in making our literature review more applicable to real-world settings.
One piece of feedback was creating a uniform framework for analyzing industries. For example, examining all industries’ revenue and costs provided a clear basis for comparison. Applying this method uniformly across sectors allows for better comparative assessments of climate risks.
This phase of the project led to significant growth in our understanding of sustainable investing and our methodology. By welcoming feedback and addressing challenges, we improved the clarity and usefulness of our work. As we move forward, we remain committed to delving deeper into the impacts of physical climate risks on each industry and exploring sustainable adaptation strategies. Our next step is to develop a detailed assessment framework based on our expanded industry analysis.