Businesses need to update carbon and climate change aspects of their risk management plans because many still have only basic contingency plans, which will be insufficient when the Federal Government’s proposed carbon scheme becomes law, says a renowned expert.
Tony Coleman is a non-executive director of Low Carbon Australia and was Insurance Australia Group's chief risk officer and chief actuary from 2000 to 2008. He was part of the 2006 Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change, a member of a United Nations Environmental Program Climate Change Working Group and a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report.
Mr Coleman will emphasise the importance of updating climate change components in risk management plans when he is a keynote speaker at the 8th Annual Risk Management Institution of Australasia Conference, on November 20-22, in Melbourne.
He said risk managers must assess how climate change risks would manifest, specific to their operations. "If they haven't already done this, they are well behind where they should be."
Mr Coleman said updating climate change risk management plans was now vital. "Organisations must start preparing now, before the carbon tax is introduced. Despite current political rhetoric, one cannot realistically expect the tax will be reversed once it's implemented, because there would be many difficulties in doing so."
Mr Coleman’s RMIA Conference presentation will include an overview of climate change’s economic, social and environmental impacts and the role risk managers play in mitigating those impacts. He will also give businesses tips on how to prepare for the carbon tax’s implementation.
For more information about the RMIA conference, visit www.rmiaconference.com.au.
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