Firms believe they were successful in weathering COVID-19

The threat of a pandemic remains a key issue for businesses, but it has dropped from second to fourth place. While the Covid-19 problem continues to cast a shadow over the economic prospects in several industries, firms, for the most part, believe they have responded successfully.

A large number of companies believe they are properly or well-prepared for an upcoming crisis. Improving business continuity management is the primary activity that businesses are doing to become more resilient.

Climate-change-related weather disasters causing damage to corporate property are the most concerning to Allianz Risk Barometer respondents (57 percent).

This is followed by BI and supply chain effects (41 percent ). However, they are also concerned about managing their organisations’ transition to a low-carbon economy (36%), meeting onerous regulatory and reporting obligations, and avoiding possible lawsuit risks for failing to appropriately address climate change (34 percent ).

“The pressure on businesses to act on climate change has increased noticeably over the past year, with a growing focus on net-zero contributions,” observes Line Hestvik, Chief Sustainability Officer at Allianz SE.

Value Chain

“There is a clear trend for companies towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in operations or exploring business opportunities for climate-friendly technologies and sustainable products. In the coming years, many corporate decision-makers will be looking even more closely at the impact of climate risks in their value chain and taking appropriate precautions.

“Many companies are building up dedicated competencies around climate risk mitigation, bringing together both risk management and sustainability experts.”

Businesses also have to become more weatherproof against extreme events such as hurricanes or flooding.

“Previous once-in-a-century-events may well occur more frequently in future and also in regions which were considered ‘safe’ in the past. Both buildings and business continuity planning need to become more robust in response,” says Maarten van der Zwaag, Global Head of Property Risk Consulting · Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).