Advanced Microsoft technologies, including as Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Azure, underpin the platform known as.

The need for this new product is a result of the mounting pressure on investors, stakeholders, and asset owners to manage the risks related to climate change. The new tool from Howden tackles these dynamic issues by turning complicated data into useful insights that improve climate resilience and decision-making.

Howden is renowned for providing all-inclusive risk management solutions, with a focus on employee benefits, risk advising, and insurance brokerage. The organization works globally, providing customised tactics to customers in different sectors to assist them reduce risks.

Among the many important services offered by the Howden Resilience Laboratory is sophisticated climate risk modeling, which pinpoints lingering threats to the operational and financial viability of businesses. Users may also model the results of strategic choices like mergers, market expansions, or decarbonization activities by using the platform's unique scenario planning feature. Furthermore, the Laboratory provides optimized insurance and investment plans that account for variations in exposure, susceptibility, and hazard.

To provide cutting-edge solutions, the platform works with partners like Microsoft's Planetary Computer and conducts industry research. The technology's goal is to enable firms to make sustainable, strategic decisions by measuring the financial returns on investments in resilience, such supply chains and biodiversity.

Howden and Microsoft presented an automated modeling technique at Climate Week NYC 2024 that assists real asset investors in evaluating the effect of climate risks prior to making investment choices. The accuracy of climate risk assessment is increased to previously unheard-of levels by using this method, which also assesses resilience options and their financial consequences.

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) created the Physical Climate Risk Assessment Methodology (PCRAM), which is followed by the platform. It adds a new level to climate risk management as the first solution to include reporting on financial parameters including cash flow impacts.

Mahesh Roy, Investor Strategies Programme Director at the IIGCC, praised the platform, saying, “By streamlining the process, the Resilience Laboratory’s application of PCRAM offers the opportunity to broaden its use across sectors, providing insurers and investors with a practical framework to incorporate climate resilience into their decision-making. This methodical strategy not only controls risks but also gradually increases asset value, guaranteeing stability over the long run and opening doors to increasingly robust investment possibilities.

"Asset owners, investors, and wider stakeholders face evolving and complex pressures from risks related to climate change," said Lyn Grobler, Chief Information Officer at Howden. By working together with Microsoft, we can establish a state-of-the-art innovation hub that uses data, artificial intelligence, and computing to simulate climate scenarios and evaluate financial implications. This will allow us to make informed investment decisions that safeguard companies and assets. In order to assist grow and develop the tools and skills to de-risk finance decisions and hasten the shift to a more resilient society, we will keep integrating insights and working with Microsoft and other data partners and academics.

According to Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Worldwide Financial Services, the company is committed to providing businesses with the technology they need to address pressing concerns such as climate change. In previously unimaginable methods, the Howden Resilience Laboratory is modeling, understanding, and mitigating climate hazards via the use of technology and data platforms. Together, we are assisting companies in making well-informed decisions that foster resilience and long-term sustainability while also managing risk.