Risk intelligence group Verisk Maplecroft has released AREA – a tool that uses geospatial risk data to map environmental, human rights and political risks associated with companies. The tool allows investors to assess their exposure to these risks in granular, company-by-company detail. It covers more than four million assets held by over 50,000 publicly traded companies. “AREA addresses investor blind spots by delivering a bird’s eye view of a company’s assets, mapping these to the systematic risks that shape both its financial performance and its effects on the world around it,” said Verisk Maplecroft’s Head of Markets, James Lockhart Smith. “Manufacturing hubs in areas of rising civil unrest, data centres exposed to intensifying climate hazards, mines located in human rights hotspots – the data provides a granular, real-world counterpoint to headquarter-level assessments of risk and sustainability.” The tool considers 18 potential political risks, including civil unrest, conflict intensity, corruption and democratic governance, as well as 30 human rights-related risks,18 climate-related risks, and 19 environmental risks – including natural hazards, pollution, biodiversity and deforestation.
