We help capital providers and corporations to understand and quantify climate risks, leading to better investment, lending and CAPEX decisions. We work with businesses and financial institutions to set and execute low-carbon transition strategies that collectively chart a path to net-zero. And we advise our clients on how to prepare, engage and empower their workforces in order to execute the profound transformations required.

We have been advising the world’s leading companies for 150 years, through periods of huge turbulence and upheaval. We understand that catastrophic climate change – and the speed and scale of transformation needed to avoid it – threaten disruption unlike anything that has come before. Marsh McLennan is helping its clients navigate a path from risk to opportunity, and we believe that Risk, Strategy and People will be the key to progress and to competitive advantage.

The example of flooding illustrates why limiting global warming is so important.  And it shows what tools are available to adapt to the changing risks and become more resilient. Flooding is the most pervasive among natural disasters, with more than 250,000 lives lost and damages exceeding $1 trillion globally since 1980. Flood risk in on the rise due to climate change and the increasing concentration of people and assets in exposed areas, yet its many cascading impacts on socioeconomic, financial, and environmental systems routinely lead to an underestimation of its true costs. Despite advancements in markets, solutions, and data, current approaches to flood risk management are often inadequate and not future-oriented. Marsh McLennan’s Flood Risk Index leverages information from international institutions and academic research to provide a global overview of the threat of flooding, show how this is set to increase due to climate change, and present solutions for resilience. According to the Index, 18% of the world’s population is currently threatened by flooding, a percentage set to double in a 2 °C warming scenario. The tool also presents information on infrastructure at risk. For example, 23% and 41% of the global energy generation capacity is estimated to be located in flood-prone areas under present-day conditions and in a 2 °C warming scenario, respectively.

Achieving the net zero transition depends heavily on the roll-out of smart energy grids. Power grids worldwide are under pressure from a more volatile climate, growing demand for renewable energy, and rising urbanization. The Making the Switch: Navigating the Smart Grid Transition report discusses how innovative combinations of advanced technologies will accelerate innovation towards a "Smart Grid 2.0" that can address legacy operational challenges and create commercial opportunities across the energy sector. This report also explores ways in which existing energy grids can benefit from smart technologies and provides practical guidance for overcoming challenges as energy system players navigate this transition. 

Moving to a ‘whole-of society’ response to the climate challenge is essential. In this BRINK article, Richard Smith-Bingham, Executive Director of Insights, Marsh McLennan Advantage shows that governments and administrations must not only focus on enhancing the capabilities and connective tissue within the public sector, but also on mobilizing the broader ecosystem that will deliver the outcomes desired. Governments inherently lack the financial and other resources needed to address complex crises by themselves. Indeed, claiming too much of that role for the public sector undermines the goal of building resilient economies and societies. More specifically, it can reinforce moral hazard and squander opportunities to mobilize the capabilities and energies that exist in other sectors—especially the private sector—to address critical challenges.