Robert Kilgour
Senior Consultant
Samra Mariam
Principal Consultant
OPINION | 07 APRIL 2025
To explore the latest on the disclosure landscape for climate risk reporting and corporate transition plans, 3Keel consultants Samra Mariam and Rob Kilgour attended Informa Connect’s recent Climate Risk Reporting conference in London.
Their takeaways from the conference were clear. There is a pressing need for companies to embrace a focus on risk and resilience. Companies should also begin developing a transition plan now to ensure that they are ‘fighting fit’ for the challenges in the decades ahead.
Here they build on these takeaways by diving into some of the practicalities of engaging in this type of work, as well as how organisations can best adapt to an uncertain and constantly evolving landscape.
Right now, political and regulatory uncertainty are all too common. At 3Keel, we help our clients navigate this uncertainty on a daily basis, so we weren’t surprised to see it dominated many of the discussions at the conference.
Indeed, it’s easy at the moment to feel overwhelmed by the noise in the political and regulatory space. The much-discussed Omnibus in the EU to ‘simplify’ corporate sustainability reporting is just one example where many organisations feel that the rug has suddenly been pulled from underneath them.
However, amidst such uncertainty, we firmly believe it is crucial not to lose sight of the inherent value and principles driving much of the sustainability agenda in businesses and, often, the regulation.
As we emphasised in our recent piece on the importance of transition plans, organisations are facing significant risks. Getting a better grip on how, and to what extent, you are exposed to these risks is crucial, regardless of whether you have to complete mandatory climate risk disclosures.
We would argue that this logic applies to many of the requirements contained in legislation, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Organisations should, for example, embrace completing a double materiality assessment as a strategic piece of work – not simply a compliance exercise.
For that matter, it’s important to recognise that, while timelines might have shifted and some reporting requirements might change, the fundamentals will remain the same. Regulation is still coming, so having a head start is desirable. It’s certainly preferable to a time-constrained, eleventh-hour response that, in all likelihood, will also be more expensive.
Understanding how and why your organisation is exposed to climate and nature-related risk is crucial.
Reassuringly, several organisations at the conference reiterated similar messages. Many recognised that the regulatory uncertainty is particularly unhelpful in securing internal resource or generating buy-in. Ultimately, however, they agreed that the fundamental value of the work had not changed.
Indeed, throughout the conference, three messages were particularly clear:
While regulatory and political uncertainty was a dominant topic in many conference discussions, a close second was that of data. It’s a topic close to the hearts of many 3Keel consultants, and a perennial challenge in sustainability.
Given the nature of the conference and the fact that many of its attendees were either corporate disclosure preparers or investors, the fact that data featured in many discussions and was cited as a key challenge for many organisations was not a surprise. After all, the phrase ‘what gets measured, gets managed’ remains highly relevant in sustainability, despite the inherent challenges and complexities with such an approach.
However, we were surprised that the idea of ‘not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good’ was somewhat overlooked. It’s a message we share consistently with our clients at 3Keel, and it reflects the reality faced when attempting to collect data across an organisation’s entire value chain. While many recognised and discussed challenges in data collection, fewer people emphasised that sometimes we have to work with what we have in order to make timely and considered decisions, acknowledging what we do and do not know.
Essentially you can boil this down to one word: pragmatism.
Organisations often understand the value of data. However, they can sometimes lose sight of the need to act, instead pursuing ‘perfect’ data for ‘perfect’ decision-making. Unfortunately, with the urgency of the climate and nature crises, this is not a luxury that we have.
This means that compromise is key. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t pursue better data. Indeed, recognising the value of data systems with fit-for-purpose data governance structures is a fundamentally important part of an organisation’s sustainability strategy. Amongst other things, this includes building data systems that are auditable, fit for the future, agnostic of regulatory requirements, and capable of integrating external sources. Such an approach also better enables organisations to be proactive rather than reactive to regulatory requirements.
Managing risk in supply chains is becoming a fundamental part of organisational resilience.
As 3Keel clients know well, we encourage organisations to seek out transparency and visibility over their supply chain wherever possible, so we were pleased to hear this message echoed at the conference. Supply chain risk is real, and it’s already here. What’s more, it’s inherently tied to the data challenges we’ve discussed above.
Beyond compliance and reputational concerns, it’s increasingly clear that our supply chains and the dominant ‘just-in-time’ model are not always fit for purpose in the environment that many organisations now find themselves in. Managing risk in supply chains is therefore becoming a fundamental part of organisational resilience. Organisations taking action now will be best positioned to proactively manage the new and varied risks emerging both now and in the future.
This topic is particularly acute for sectors such as food and drink, where there is an essential reliance on agricultural supply chains and therefore a serious exposure to their frailties.
Getting to grips with this, identifying your potential blind spots and acting on them is key. While it can be overwhelming, we recommend prioritising by looking for the areas where you have both the greatest influence and impact. To do this, you’ll need the right data and knowledge. We would recommend starting here, keeping pragmatism and the need for urgency in mind throughout.
If any of the above has struck a chord with you and you’d like to speak with Rob or Samra, please get in touch directly using the contact form below.
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Robert Kilgour
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Robert Kilgour2025-04-07 09:01:042025-04-07 15:55:15“A pragmatic approach to data is key if businesses are to manage supply chain risk”
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Samra Mariam
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Samra Mariam2025-03-25 10:33:012025-03-27 09:14:35“Transition planning is gaining momentum…for good reason”
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Catherine McCosker
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Catherine McCosker2024-03-22 09:00:372024-06-07 09:14:48“We need to double-down on collaboration, as climate change hits agriculture”
