Environmental Research Firm and Risk Consultancy to Advise Financial Firms, Insurance Companies, Manufacturers, and Retailers on Climate Strategy
Lexington, MA, and Conshohocken, PA, November 10, 2009 – Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER) and Decision Strategies International (DSI) today announced an alliance to develop solutions to help corporations identify, measure, manage, and monitor risks associated with climate change. AER is a leading environmental research firm specializing in climate prediction, air quality, and risk assessment. DSI is a management consulting, executive education, and information services firm focused on helping clients prepare for and profit from uncertainty.
Together, AER and DSI will advise corporations on a range of climate-change related business concerns, such as sustainability evaluations, catastrophic risk exposure calculations, and climate risk modeling. In addition, AER and DSI will help organizations to stress-test and update their business strategies to capture the emerging market and competitive opportunities that will result from climate change. The strategic alliance comes amidst a groundswell of interest among regulators, the federal government, and businesses in assessing climate risk. Chief among these are recent regulatory proposals by the Securities Exchange Commission to measure and report the effects of climate change on the financial health of public companies.
“Risk is a two-way street. While there is vast potential downside for businesses that do not anticipate and manage their exposures to climate change, there is also a huge competitive advantage to those that take a proactive approach to the issue,” said Paul Walsh, AER senior vice president. “By pairing our expertise in the science of climate change with DSI’s unique approach to scenario planning and strategic decision making, we can offer companies the types of critical intelligence they need to effectively manage climate risk.”
“Business leaders confronting a seemingly amorphous problem like climate change can easily fall into a trap of ignoring the problem until it escalates to a dangerous level,” said Scott Snyder, DSI’s chief executive officer. “This joint endeavor brings the quantitative measurement and rigorous analysis businesses need to make strategic decisions.
About Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc.
Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (www.aer.com ), established in 1977 and headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verisk Analytics Inc. AER is an award-winning environmental research, consulting, and technology company with deep expertise in climate science and modeling, satellite remote sensing, atmospheric research, and weather and climate forecasting. AER customers include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Departments of Defense and Energy, and many of the largest energy, financial services and insurance companies in the United States.
About Decision Strategies International
Decision Strategies International, Inc. (www.thinkdsi.com) established in 1990 and headquartered in Conshohocken, PA, is a consulting, executive education, and information services firm. The firm helps clients manage uncertainty through a combination of leading edge strategy and risk management frameworks. DSI has a strong affiliation with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and has conducted work for 8 of the top 10 Fortune 100 companies.
Release: Immediate
Contacts:
John Roderick (AER)
john@jroderick.com
631-656-9736
Scott Snyder (Decision Strategies International)
snyder@thinkdsi.com
610-717-1000 x119