Aon sets up Climate Advisory Council

Aon announced today it has established an advisory council in Australia to address climate risks as well as find solutions and mitigation initiatives.

The Climate Advisory Council is formed in collaboration with the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) at the University of New South Wales.

Aon says the aim is to provide the latest climate science for the region including New Zealand, obtain expert external peer review, and act as a conduit for technical discussion and inquiry on climate-related initiatives.

“Our Council provides Aon and the CCRC a forum to openly discuss scientific and industry developments, gaps and opportunities in managing physical climate risk,” Aon Senior Catastrophe Research Analyst Tom Mortlock said.

Dr Mortlock, who is also adjunct fellow at the CCRC, says Aon’s clients in the region will benefit from the collaboration through access to the latest climate data, specialised analysis and advisory services on physical climate risk.

“Having a formalised ongoing relationship with this academic consortium also provides an opportunity for Aon to participate in discussions related to climate risk and lends an external research-based assessment as an objective source in relation to climate risk and solutions in the industry,” he said.

The CCRC is the country’s largest climate science centre and hosts the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, a consortium of five of Australia’s leading universities: the University of New South Wales, Monash University, the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Tasmania.

Additional support comes in the form of investment from the Bureau of Meteorology, the NSW Government’s Research Attraction and Acceleration Program and the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

“The CCRC is delighted to support the Climate Advisory Council,” Andrew Pitman, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and member of the CCRC said.

“As climate science becomes increasingly material for assessing business risk, and as the needs of business become increasingly central in defining research priorities, a forum of this kind has the potential to accelerate academic industry engagement.”