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This chapter proposes the socioeconomic metabolism (SEM) and multilevel perspective (MLP) as “novel” conceptual and practical models that island policy makers can apply to analyzing the transitioning from the current island tourism to sustainable island tourism. Pandemics, such as COVID-19 and climate-related disasters pose risks that highlight a need for restructuring the dominant “sun, sea, and sand” and mass tourism, with excessive resort buildup on the coasts. These crises and disasters constantly disrupt island tourism, exacerbating the already volatile nature of the tourism industry, especially in the Caribbean. Therefore, the SEM which grounds an understanding of how the island system functions, coupled with the MLP that explains sustainability transitions, are proffered as an alternative and systematic approach to restructuring island tourism. In this regard, the models are analyzed for their application to the tourism accommodation subsector. The chapter concludes with the relevance of the models to policy makers and demonstrates how their application can minimize the risks posed by disasters and pandemics to materials and energy flows in the accommodation sector and eventually lead to sustainable island tourism.

The paper aims to provide companies with a better understanding of the needs of institutional investors to improve the disclosure of sustainability information by companies. The study investigates the changed information needs of institutional investors resulting from the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

This study uses an internet-based survey instrument amongst institutional investors to gain insights into their needs regarding sustainability information. The authors received 155 responses in total and use descriptive statistics and t-tests to analyse the survey data.

The results demonstrate that the implementation of the SFDR challenges institutional investors, as it affects their decision process. Additionally, the findings still indicate a lack of available corporate sustainability information, making it even more challenging for institutional investors to make appropriate investment decisions. Respondents suggest that information on climate-related risks is more important than the European Union (EU) Taxonomy metrics for meeting the SFDR requirements.

The findings are mainly restricted to the opinion of European investors. However, the evidence contributes to the existing literature by investigating institutional investors' information needs in the new regulatory landscape.

As the study provides insights into institutional investors' needs, reporting companies recognise the relevance of transparently providing sustainability information to be further considered in the investment process of institutional investors despite the regulation. The findings can help regulators develop uniform and global sustainability reporting standards.

This paper is the first to provide evidence on sustainability information requested on the institutional investors' side. The survey gathers primary data from professional investment members unavailable in databases or reports.

The paper aims to examine the climate change-related disclosure patterns of listed Indian firms and its impact on firm performance. Specifically, it strives to analyse the conformance of the selected firms with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) established by the Financial Stability Board of G20 nations.

The study conducts content analysis of the annual reports and/or sustainability reports of 22 selected firms from the energy sector for the period spanning 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 based on the four-fold recommendations of TCFD, namely, governance, strategy, risk management and target and metrics, to compute the overall and respective climate-change disclosure scores. Further, a panel data regression model is used to appraise the impact of such disclosure on the performance of the firms.

The findings of the study indicate that the disclosure level of Indian firms in the energy sector is moderate. The regression results establish a positive relation between climate change-related financial disclosure and firm performance indicating that firms can witness improved financial performance by disclosing more information on climate change.

This is the first study in the Indian context to evaluate the climate change-related disclosure practices of the selected firms based on the TCFD’s recommendations and to trace its association with the performance of the firms. The results of the study shall hence be of relevance for the policymakers and diverse stakeholders.

During the period of 2000–2009, a record 402 climate-related disasters occurred in the Southeast Asia region, and the number of geophysical disasters was 61 according to the International Disaster Database by Center for Research on the Epidemiology (CRED). The number of climate-related disasters is much higher than that of geophysical disasters, but due to small or medium scale of the events, attention and assistance to most of them have been limited. Although many people are affected by these disasters every year, in many cases, they do not have sufficient idea and knowledge on preparedness and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the public health and societal implications of climate change in South East Asia, and create a framework for planning national and regional responses.

The paper elaborates on the adverse consequences of climate change in South East Asia, the current efforts taken by the regional countries, the current barriers to deal with the problems and presents a framework for planning responses.

The consequences of climate change from a public health perspective, as well as from an economic, political and resource security standpoint, for South East Asia can be disastrous. Consequently, there is an urgent need to plan national and regional level measures for climate change mitigation and develop comprehensive plans in response to the current and projected climate‐related health risks.

The paper attempts to provide a detailed framework for addressing the health‐related risks of climate change, in such a manner that it can be followed by all countries of the region.

South East Asia could face disastrous public health consequences due to climate change. A detailed framework for mitigating climate change effects in the context of public health has been suggested, focusing on strengthening the evidence base to aid climate change policy, advancing knowledge and training to mitigate climate change, implementing adaptation measures, greenhouse gas reduction and developing collaborative work. Following the framework could yield substantial benefits for the South East Asian countries.

The purposes of this paper are: firstly, to assess the disclosure related to climate change (CC) by major European banks to understand if the banks have grasped the most substantive aspects of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and secondly, to evaluate the contribution of a non-traditional committee (i.e. corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee) to TCFD-compliant disclosure.

Using content analysis and ordinary least squares regressions on a sample of 101 European banks, this study sought to investigate completeness, tone and forward-looking orientation of CC disclosure and explore the relationships between CSR committee and previous disclosure aspects.

This study shows that European banks have been able to reach an intermediate level of adequacy of compliance in terms of completeness of information but forward-looking orientation seems to be the aspect that needs the most improvement. The existence of a CSR committee dedicated to sustainability issues seems to constitute the difference between the banks in terms of disclosure. The results highlight vulnerabilities in disclosure and board characteristics relevant for improving CC disclosure.

Firms interested in strengthening stakeholder engagement and capturing strategic opportunities involved in CC should be encouraged to establish a CSR committee and appoint female directors in financial companies. This paper should be of interest to policymakers, governance bodies and boards of directors considering the initiative of corporate sustainable governance complementary to Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting by the European Commission.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has investigated the relationship between the CSR committee and the application of the TCFD’s recommendations in the European banking industry.

This paper aims to quantify the (syndicated) loan exposure to elevated environmental risk sectors of the banking system in the USA, EU, China, Japan and Switzerland at US$1.6tn and to highlight its importance, which ranges from 3.8 (USA) to 0.5 per cent (China) in terms of total national banking assets. The paper highlights the relevance of exploring prudential policy responses, including a harmonized taxonomy, statistical and reporting framework that could contribute to internalizing the negative externalities associated with climate risks by both banks and their supervisors. Among the prudential supervisory tools, credit registers facilitate the assessment of environmental risk drivers in “carbon stress tests.” This paper also presents a framework of analysis for the regulatory treatment of climate-related risks.

Similarly to Weyzig et al. (2014), this paper uses financial databases on the banks’ role as book runners for syndicated loans; that is, as the lead arrangers who also provide a large share of the actual lending. Loans are outstanding on December 31, 2014, and the paper assumes linear amortization of loans issued before that date and with maturity after that date. This study includes the largest banks from the above-mentioned countries with financial information available in SNL Financial and EU banks with financial information available in the ECB database on December 31, 2014. By assessing the relative share of the ten largest (or total reporting if less) banks’ exposure to each high environmental risk sector in relation to their total assets, these findings can be extrapolated across sectors in the respective country.

This paper quantifies the loan exposure to elevated environmental risk sectors of the banking system in the USA, EU, China, Japan and Switzerland in US$1.6tn, broadly in line with the findings of Battiston et al. (2017) and Weyzig et al. (2014). This paper also explores prudential policy approaches and tools. In addition to the lack of taxonomy of “brown” vs “green,” the paper identifies the limitations to assess the risks involved in the transition to a low-carbon economy: supervisory reports that do not make full use of the existing international statistical framework (e.g. EU COREP and FINREP); lack of harmonized reporting requirements of environmental risks; lack of credit registers as tools to perform carbon stress-testing; and supervisors’ governance framework that do not internalize environmental risks (e.g. proposed revision of the Basel Core Principles of Banking Supervision). As per the stress-testing, the paper presents two examples. The paper presents a framework of analysis for the regulatory treatment of climate-related risks. The author identifies two critical elements of such framework if prudential regulation of environmental risks is to be considered: the consideration or not of climate risk as credit risk and the impact of environmental risks over probabilities of default over the entire business cycle.

No internationally accepted “official” taxonomy of high environmental risk sectors exists. This paper uses Moody’s (2015a) classification of sectors according to their environmental risk exposure. This paper’s exposures do not reflect the real risk exposure of these institutions and the banking industry as a whole because, as explained in Page 6, these values are without regard to bilateral loans and guarantees and securitizations of loans; in the case of loans to power generation companies, renewable sources are not excluding and, similarly, for the production of electric vehicles, loans are not excluded. Furthermore, this paper does not assess banks’ exposures to sovereigns subject to high environmental risks and bonds and equity issued by corporations operating in high environmental risk sectors.

Contribution to the present policy debate on how to regulate banks’ exposure to high environmental risk and how to manage the transition to a low-carbon economy.

This paper can increase awareness of the banking sector transition risks to a low-carbon economy.

This paper quantifies banks direct exposures to high environmental risk sectors using an ample definition of sectors exposed to environmental risk. The author suggests policy actions to assess the environmental risks. The author defines a regulatory framework for banks to internalize the negative externalities of environmental risks.

Climate change was identified as an urgent global problem that requires governments to unite their efforts to prepare for potential climate risks at the First World Climate Conference in 1979. This recognition led to the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 to assess the magnitude and timing of changes and estimate their impacts. The IPCC published its First Assessment Report in 1990, which became a basis for negotiations on a climate change convention under the United Nations General Assembly. Between February 1991 and May 1992, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change met five times under the auspices of the General Assembly, and the Convention text was adopted on May 9, 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where 154 states signed. The Convention entered into force on March 21, 1994. It has near universal membership with 194 Parties (member countries) having ratified (UNFCCC, 2006).

This research seeks to understand the potential impact to investors from government responses to climate change risk, as reflected in changes to planning processes made after significant weather events.

The research examines the land planning responses within a select local government authority (“LGA”) area following four significant weather events, in order to identify any changes made, and the impact on future development proposals. The LGA selected is the Central Coast Council, which is a coastal LGA in the Australian State of New South Wales. The research engaged with the publicly accessible records available on the Central Coast Council, Australian Bureau of Meteorology and other websites; and extant literature.

The research reveals that some adjustments were made by the Central Coast Council, and or the State government, to relevant laws, policies and processes following these events. These changes, however, tended to focus on imposing additional requirements on future development applications, rather than on requiring changes to current structures, or prohibiting further development works.

The research has three limitations: (1) land law in Australia varies, as each State and Territory, and LGA, has specific laws, policies and processes; (2) as laws and policies are subject to change, it was necessary to select points in time at which to engage with those laws and processes; and (3) COVID-19's impact on domestic Australian travel [the authors could not travel interstate] meant only documents available on the Internet were considered, however, not all documents relating to development; or changes to laws and processes were easily accessible online. As the research focussed on one case study area, this may limit the applicability of the results to other areas. However, as extreme events are international, the related issues are a concern in all areas.

This research confirms the results of other extant research, which observed that some risks cannot be properly mitigated, such that any development in an at-risk area remains at risk. It also identifies that more current, accurate and publicly accessible data are required to enable investors to more easily and accurately identify all risks affecting a property.

The research provides a snapshot of one LGA's response to the physical risks arising from climate change events. As investors and other organisations integrate and build up their analysis of climate risks to their portfolios and organisations, governments become more aware of the long-term effects of climate change and consistently with extant research; this research indicates that a greater awareness is required of current risks and action to manage the short-term effects and cost challenges, in addition to the long-term adaptation requirements.

A number of severe weather events have influenced a shift in UK policy concerning how climate-induced hazards are managed. Whist this shift has encouraged improvements in emergency management and preparedness, the risk of climate change is increasingly becoming securitised within policy discourses, and enmeshed with broader agendas traditionally associated with human-induced threats. Climate change is seen as a security risk because it can impede development of a nation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of the securitisation of climate change, and interrogates how such framings influence a range of conceptual and policy focused approaches towards both security and climate change.

Drawing upon the UK context, the paper uses a novel methodological approach combining critical discourse analysis and focus groups with security experts and policymakers.

The resulting policy landscape appears inexorably skewed towards short-term decision cycles that do little to mitigate longer-term threats to the nation’s assets. Whilst a prominent political action on a global level is required in order to mitigate the root causes (i.e. GHG emissions), national level efforts focus on adaptation (preparedness to the impacts of climate-induced hazards), and are forming part of the security agenda.

These issues are not restricted to the UK: understanding the role of security and its relationship to climate change becomes more pressing and urgent, as it informs the consequences of securitising climate change risks for development-disaster risk system.