Climate risk | Environmental Sustainability

Climate risk

Controlled burn at a Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence field day, Spring Valley farm, the Australian National University (Image: Jamie Kidston/ANU).

While the world must continue to reduce emissions to mitigate climate change, we also need to plan for how to adapt to the already locked-in impacts.  Climate risk is the potential for climate change to create adverse consequences for society and/or ecosystems. At ANU, climate change will have significant impacts on student experience, research, teaching, operations, health and safety, infrastructure, financial models and our entire value chain.

It will result in both increasing physical risks, such as more severe weather events, and transition risks (policy, legal, technological, market and reputational impacts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions) such as impacts on international student markets and supply chains. It may also present opportunities such as increased demand for climate literate graduates or increased government investment in R&D for climate solutions.  

Managing climate risk is necessary to ensure that the University can continue to operate safely and effectively.

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Environmental Sustainability Strategy

Our approach

In terms of reporting on the University’s climate risk, we follow the principles outlined by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). As a Commonwealth reporting entity, we are participating in the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure Pilot for the 2024 Calendar year, and we will make a full disclosure on our climate risk for the 2025 Calendar year. This involves generating, distilling, and disclosing information on our governance (resourcing, capacity and governance structures that support climate-related decisions), strategy and risk management (how the University manages climate-related risk and opportunities and their financial implications) and metrics and targets (our decarbonisation targets, ambitions and progress towards our goals).

Our targets

To explore how different climate change scenarios will affect the University in the short-term (by 2030), medium-term (2050) and long-term (2100).
To understand the risks and opportunities that climate change will present to the University.
To develop strategies to manage and adapt to climate risk, embedding this into the University’s overall risk management framework.

Our progress

Climate Risk Disclosure

We are in the process of developing voluntary climate risk disclosure as part of the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure Pilot for the 2024 Calendar year.

Cross sector working group

ANU is co-chairing a cross sector working group that is conducting a project exploring how climate change will impact the tertiary education sector in the short, medium and long-term. This will involve consultation with a range of experts and stakeholders throughout the sector. The report should be released in Q1 2025. This will be used to develop ANU specific assessments and strategies to manage climate risk during 2025.