Our second Board Focus Series event was held 12 January unpicking what questions Boards should be asking about their companies’ environmental risks and their responsibilities to ensure they are addressed and managed. Thanks to a strategic collaboration with Chamber member companies Brunswick Group, Control Risks and Shearman & Sterling, we were able to field a panel of expert practitioners whose jobs are to advise, inform and help business leaders and Boards meaningfully respond to environmental risks.

The webinar began with a keynote address by Ms. Reema Bhattacharya, Senior Analyst, Control Risks. Reema set out the extent of the challenges which every Board and company faces. Climate change and the escalating frequency of extreme weather events pose existential risks to supply chains and, ultimately, survival. This means Boards need to ensure these risks are integrated into their companies’ yearly assessment and crisis management plans and satisfy themselves the risks are identified and managed. The prime responsibility of every Board is to ensure their companies’ assets and performance are resilient to environmental events and any resulting disruption.

Reema was then joined by fellow panellists Ms. Ayesha Khan, Director, Singapore, Brunswick Group and Mr. Emmanuel Jacomy, Partner, Shearman & Sterling in a conversation and dialogue with the audience moderated by Mr. Michael Kearns, Director, Singapore, Brunswick Group. The panel discussed the business and legal challenges with navigating complex, differing jurisdictional standards and benchmarks, the lack of reliable data, the scarcity of talent and the difference between what businesses and countries say and actually do. This brief summary does not do justice to the content shared by the panel and the questions posed by the audience. Click here to watch the recording.

The Chamber thanks the panellists and moderator for their time, insights and knowledge. Our thanks, too, to the audience for their questions.

We look forward to inviting you to the next Board Focus Series event which will touch on the S in ESG: social risks which we are planning for March 2022.