Abstract Publicly listed companies are increasingly disclosing climate-related financial risks to their businesses since the promulgation of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and more recently under the climate-related disclosures issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Hence, financial risk exposures associated with geographically-distributed operations and business activities will need to be quantified and benchmarked. While extant research on individual companies or facilities has been available, no prior methodologies have explored these systemic risks based on industry sector classification in the context of listed indices. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of corporate financial flood risks across regions and industry sectors for the constituent components in the Nikkei 225 Index, representing 225 companies and more than 18,000 facilities. The modeling approach integrates hydrological datasets with multiple climate models and financial records of corporations and facilities. Using estimated property damage (using plant, property, and equipment or PP&E investment proxies) and revenue losses at the facility, corporate, and industry scales, the expected annual damage (EAD) exceeds USD 8.2 billion by 2030. Approximately 60% of losses is derived from property damage to Asian-based facilities, while business interruption losses are driven by European and Asian operations. When benchmarked to earnings, several sectors and companies with high capital asset valuations, including utilities, information technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials show loss ranges exceeding 5%. While financial flood risk was not weighted based on index component allocations, sectors with high fixed asset investments and business interruption losses expose the index to significant impact from extreme weather events.
Many children suffer from diarrhea in low-income settlements. However, little information is available on the microbial contamination related to waterborne diseases. Microbial contamination of five environmental media (groundwater, tap water, stored household water, drinking cups, dish sponges) was investigated in Chawama ward, Lusaka, Zambia. Escherichia coli was measured by culture method. Seven waterborne pathogens (rotavirus A, norovirus GII, Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), Campylobacter jejuni, Cryptosporidium spp.) and fecal genetic markers (human, pig, chicken) were detected by quantitative PCR. The concentrations of E. coli in groundwater and tap water were under 5 colony forming unit (CFU)/100 mL. High concentrations of E. coli were observed in 3 of 20 stored water samples (> 100 CFU/100 mL) and on 5 of 20 cups (> 1,000 CFU/media). Rotavirus A, Shigella spp. and ETEC were detected on cups. Presence of I1 genotype of human rotavirus A was identified by nested PCR and amplicon sequencing for a partial region of the VP6 gene. C. jejuni and a chicken-associated genetic marker were detected from tap water, stored water, cups and sponges, suggesting that chicken would be the main cause of microbial contamination. These results indicate the various transmission routes of enteric pathogens in this area.
