in: Antes R. et al. (eds.), Emissions Trading, Springer Berlin 2011, S. 127-139, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-20592-7_8

Authors: Günther, Edeltraud; Nowack, Martin; Weber, Gabriel

Year: 2011

Type of publication: Article in collected volume

The purpose of this contribution is to investigate regulatory climate change risks related to emissions trading. We propose that a deeper integration of climate change risks in risk management is necessary. Therefore we derive a six step risk management process according to Draft International Standard for ISO 31000. We argue that this formalized risk management standard is a useful tool to integrate climate change risks in risk management. Following this approach we examine the interconnections between emissions trading and corporate risk management based on a case study conducted in the multinational energy company Vattenfall. We apply a content analysis of Vattenfall’s publicly available risk reports as part of the annual reporting. In this contribution we find that Vattenfall’s exposure to climate change risks is high. Major climate change related risks are electricity price risk, political risk, investment risk, and environmental risk. This work adds to existing literature dealing with carbon disclosure. By focusing on physical climate change risks as well as risks related to emissions trading we propose to reduce the existing gaps in literature.