The Oscar M. Lopez (OML) Center will hold the 3rd OML Legacy Lectures this September 21, 2023, from 9:00 to 11:30 am via Zoom with the theme, “Rising: The Future of Climate & Business.” 

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) highlights the urgent need for action on climate change. Rising temperatures will create many risks in vulnerable communities, including extreme weather events and rising sea levels. The World Bank’s Philippine Country Climate and Development report estimates that climate change will cause up to 13.6% of GDP in damages by 2040.

All sectors are foreseen to be affected by extreme event shocks and slow-onset trends – including the private sector and businesses.

Recognizing the capacity of the private sector in mobilizing resources in times of disasters and in ensuring longer-term community resilience, the 3rd OML Legacy Lectures will focus on equipping attendees with a deeper understanding of their physical climate risks and how a holistic view of physical climate exposure can lead to organizational sustainability.

The Lectures aim to showcase the importance of climate science in corporate decision-making by emphasizing physical risk assessments and climate scenario analyses.

The Lectures will also highlight how companies can maximize the use of growing business cases for climate scenario analyses to understand their physical risks and integrate climate change into their existing and future strategies and financial planning.

The lecture series is open to Philippines-based companies of all sizes, especially MSMEs.

Our Speakers, James McMahon, CEO and Founder of the Climate Service, and Felix Ayque, CEO and Founder of Komunidad, will share the relevance of physical climate risk assessments and climate scenario analyses to business sustainability, and how climate scenarios can inform local business operations and decisions, respectively.

McMahon founded his S&P Global Company, The Climate Service, with the vision that financial decisions should incorporate climate change. The company’s risk analytics software as a service gives investors and corporate managers the financial information they need to incorporate climate-related risk into their decisions. 

McMahon also served for six years as Senior Advisor to the Director of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. He was CEO of The Collider, a nonprofit innovation center for climate solutions.

Ayque has 15 years of experience in providing solutions to environmental-critical industries within the Asian region, including his experience working with commercial weather agencies MeteoGroup, MetraWeather & EarthNetworks. He is currently active in Southeast Asia empowering governments and private sectors to leverage environmental intelligence to help adapt to our rapidly changing environment.

His organization, Komunidad, helps government agencies, local government units and city councils lead communities through a data-driven, localized approach to multi-hazard awareness and disaster preparation.

With the support of the National Resilience Council and ARISE Philippines, the Lectures will be followed by participant exchanges on climate risks, available data for localization, available resources for climate action and business continuity, and encourage knowledge-to-action through the development of a support network among local businesses, LGUs, and other partners.

The annual lecture honors Lopez Group of Companies Chairman Emeritus and the Center’s namesake, Oscar M. Lopez.

Register now through this link.

For more information on the 3rd OML Legacy Lectures, please get in touch with Eli Lucas  at [email protected].