23^rd November, 2020 – CWR releases a series of “survival guides” to avoid Atlantis in its “CWR Coastal Capital Threat Series”, which benchmarks risks for 20 coastal capitals and economic hubs in APAC from Tokyo to Sydney. The reports show that urban real estate equivalent to 59 Singapores will be underwater without serious adaptation measures if we continue with business-as-usual. And that’s just for 20 coastal cities.

Seas are rising faster than we think so we have curated the “CWR Coastal Capital Threat Series” a “survival guide” of five reports to help avoid this dire future. These five reports include an overview of the latest science on rising seas; a ground-breaking CWR APACCT 20 Index to benchmark risks; physical threats levels of 20 APAC cities; what governments are or are not doing to protect from existential threats; analyses of sovereign and clustered financial risks from GDP and trade to bank loans; as well as next steps and to-do lists for multiple stakeholders to waterproof APAC.

Over 100 finance professionals from chairs/directors of bank boards to research analysts as well as financial industry associations, asset owners and financial regulators provided feedback on the index’s development. We welcome feedback on the index as we seek to continually improve it.

We hope that this series of reports can help APAC governments, central banks and financial regulators better plan and prepare the region for capital threats and systemic shocks ahead.

Get on top of imminent threats now. To access Media Pack – please click here. To access each report – please click on the reports below…

“It’s time for finance and governments to make sensible plans to ensure that APAC is ready and can survive capital threats and systemic shocks ahead. Together we must waterproof APAC to avoid Atlantis. The alternative is unthinkable”. Debra Tan, the Head of CWR

 

1. Waterproofing APAC To Avoid Atlantis – Executive Summary & Next Steps. This report is CWR’s survival guide to avoiding Atlantis. It is the executive summary of the entire series of reports and is full of infographics plus need-to-know facts about the new risk landscape.

It also guides you through 3-steps to waterproof APAC including next steps and to-do lists for asset owners, asset managers and banks; central banks and regulators; and governments. So if you don’t have time to read the rest of the series, we recommend you read this one.

2. Avoiding Atlantis: CWR APACCT 20 Index – Benchmarking coastal threats for 20 APAC cities with finance sector input. This report covers the development of the CWR APACCT 20 Index (CWR APAC Coastal Threat Index for 20 cities) including the benchmarking methodology and finance sector feedback which shaped the parameters of the index, its indicators plus weightings. The index reflects impacts on land area, population, key infrastructure – stacked locked-in sea level rise (SLR) risks for 1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C & 4°C assessed for each indicator; storm surge + government action also included. To gauge relative risk across APAC, see which cities are ahead and which cities are behind in surviving our rising seas and access the index.

3. The CWR APACCT 20 Index City Factsheets – At-a-glance coastal threat assessment for 20 APAC cities. This is a collection of factsheets for each of the cities in the CWR APACCT 20 Index illustrating at-a-glance exposure for various climate scenarios.

Cities included are Aichi/Nagoya, Auckland, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macao, Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Suzhou, Sydney, Taipei, Tianjin, Tokyo & Yangon. Use factsheets to help gauge absolute risks now.

 

4. Changing Risk Landscapes: Coastal Threats To Central Banks – Everything you need to know about sea level rise, storm surge & financial regulations to recalibrate risks. Central Banks around the world have formed a 68+ member strong coalition to prepare for systemic risks triggered by climate threats. Recent grim polar news means multi-metre SLR is more imminent than we think yet we have not factored in such chronic risks. This report thus provides an overview of the latest science-based research on SLR & storm surge and their tail risk implications for finance. A summary of the evolving financial landscape plus how-to-build scenarios guide to assess hotspots are provided. So stay ahead of the curve and get on top of this new risk landscape.

5. Sovereigns at Risk – APAC Capital Threats – Re-ratings warranted as city capitals & GDP are materially exposed to coastal threats. Acute & chronic risks from coastal threats create a sizeable permanent overhang that warrants a recalibration of risks across finance. APAC governments that are not protecting their cities and revenues only compound the physical threats ahead.

In this report, we analyse clustered risks from GDP to trade and markets plus run through the implications for sovereign credit ratings of the 14 APAC countries/territories. See why we have put Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao on our watchlist.