ESG 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 77
STRATEGY
a. Climate-related risks and opportunities
in the short, medium and long term
RWS considers a range from one to three years as ‘shortterm’, from three to 昀椀ve years as ‘medium-term’, and
anything over 昀椀ve years as ‘long-term’ which is aligned
with the Group's business planning.
Using a risk matrix approach, a substantive 昀椀nancial or
strategic impact is de昀椀ned as one having both:
•
A 昀椀nancial impact of £10,000,000 or more cumulatively
in the short-, medium- and long-term
•
A probability of very likely or higher
As part of its overall risk-management strategy, RWS
has identi昀椀ed a good number climate-related risks and
opportunities that potentially could have a material
昀椀nancial impact on the organisation. These have been
categorised into regulation, technology, market and
physical climate change risks and opportunities.
A summary of the identi昀椀ed short-, medium-, and longterm risks and opportunities have been summarised
below:
Regulation (current, emerging, and legal)
Time horizon
Risks
Opportunities
Short-term
Our clients expect RWS to comply with all relevant
climate-change related legislation in each of the
countries in which it operates. Failure to comply
could result in 昀椀nes, damage to reputation,
and loss of clients. RWS has ISO 14001:2015
Environmental Management certi昀椀cations and
compliance at several sites across the globe,
collectively covering 62% of o昀케ces by FTE. RWS
has a goal to increase this coverage to over
90% by the end of FY30. This helps to ensure
compliance with all relevant regulations.
As a result of compliance with climate-change
regulations such as Article 8, ESOS, and SECR,
RWS identi昀椀es and reviews energy and carbon
saving opportunities regularly. These are
implemented where possible to continually
improve energy performance and reduce climate
change impact.
Medium-term
New legislation may be implemented or existing
legislation updated. For example, the IFRS
Foundation, which oversees the International
Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), will take
over the monitoring of companies’ progress
on climate related disclosures from the TCFD.
Another example is the UK’s Energy Savings
and Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is currently
in the process of being updated, with further
anticipated compliance requirements being
included for the current (third) and future
phases. Additional legislative requirements may
result in the need for supplementary support
and additional resource. RWS conducts horizon
scanning to ensure it stays aware of impending
changes to legislation.
RWS recognises that legislative requirements
that require the reporting and reduction of
carbon emissions, supports it on its sustainability
improvement journey. Upcoming legislative
changes provide opportunity for improvement as
well as generating potential additional revenue
for RWS services, which helps clients demonstrate
climate change reduction measures.
Emerging legislation is managed as part of the
RWS internal risk management process. This
ensures that new and upcoming regulatory
requirements are identi昀椀ed and mitigation
measures are implemented well in advance
of their required compliance deadlines. For
example, RWS took the proactive approach to
comply with the TCFD requirements well before
they became a mandatory requirement.
Just as RWS has made e昀昀orts to align itself with
emerging regulations, its clients are also facing
the same risks. Increased regulatory burdens
for clients can lead to higher demand for RWS
services through increased requirements to
localise content. This potential increase in
demand is in昀氀uential in the long-term business
plan for RWS.
Long-term
FRAMEWORKS RWS Holdings plc — ESG Report 2023
77
