The think tank arm of index provider MSCI said its Corporate Resilience Survey 2025, based on responses from 550 listed and unlisted firms across nine industries, found that climate-related physical risks are already having a significant economic impact.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said such risks are materially affecting the global economy.
The survey also found that 94 per cent of companies have carried out or are conducting site-specific risk assessments, and three-quarters have established frameworks to manage physical threats such as storms, flooding, and heatwaves.
Two-thirds reported that extreme weather had damaged infrastructure, reduced revenue or affected employee well-being, while one-third said insurance premiums had risen as a result.
“The energy transition and the physical impacts of our changing climate compete with AI, geopolitics, and domestic challenges for investor attention,” said Linda-Eling Lee, founding director of the MSCI Institute, who is attending COP30 in Belém. “They complicate the path to a cleaner and more resilient global economy but also underscore the role of capital in getting there.”
Apart from that, more than 60 per cent of companies said they now link executive pay to physical-risk management, and 82 per cent reported that investments in resilience had led to positive outcomes such as lower insurance costs and stronger investor interest.
The findings come as the COP30 talks in Belém focus on how to mobilise finance for developing nations most exposed to climate impacts.
Southeast Asia, where rising sea levels and heat stress are growing threats to industry and supply chains, was singled out in the report as a region facing mounting short-term risks.
Around 68 per cent of firms globally said they assess physical risks over two- to five-year horizons, leaving long-term planning largely overlooked.
The United Nations’ annual climate conference, held this year in the Amazonian city of Belém, brings together nearly 200 countries to negotiate new commitments on adaptation and climate finance.
The talks are expected to build on last year’s COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, where nations agreed on a framework to mobilise US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035 to help developing economies cope with climate change.
In a companion study, the MSCI Institute said private investors accounted for 57 per cent of the US$1.9 trillion in global climate-project finance between 2018 and 2023, expanding at an annual rate of 30 per cent, compared with 18 per cent for public financing. Assets in public climate-themed funds rose nearly 12 per cent to US$625 billion as of September 2025.
MSCI, best known for its global stock indexes and ESG ratings, launched the MSCI Institute in 2021 to provide research on how financial markets respond to sustainability and climate challenges.
