Nick Spencer is a senior consultant and sustainability risk specialist in the Milliman Life and Financial Services practice based in London. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and past Chair of its Sustainability Board and a past Council Member. He has written extensively on the integration of climate risks into actuarial work as well as on natural capital, biodiversity and broadly on aspects of the climate transition.

Our sweeping discussion starts with risk, which, as an actuary, has been the backbone of Nick’s career – analyzing it, measuring it, mitigating it. We look at the challenge of sustainability through a risk lens, and ask whether carbon should remain at the forefront of the discussion or whether it is more critical now to expand the list of priorities.

Staying on the topic of risk we speak about standards, reporting and mitigation, and circle into adjacent areas such as the challenge of biodiversity loss, renewable agriculture and the hydrology cycle.

Naturally, some of these seem to be at times insurmountable challenges, and we assess the right mindset for staying in this industry long term.

See below for some compelling resources suggested by Nick:

Chatham House Sustainability Accelerator: Sustainability Accelerator – Chatham House

Cognitive Diversity report : https://diversityproject.com/resource/cognitive-diversity-blog/#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20Diversity%20Project,we%20might%20hope%20to%20see.

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth  https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Kate-Raworth/Doughnut-Economics–Seven-Ways-to-Think-Like-a-21st-Century-Economist/21739630

Donnella Meadows Project, Systems Thinking Resources, https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review

Global Tipping Points (University of Exeter) : https://global-tipping-points.org/resources-gtp/

IFoA and University of Exeter Planetary Solvency and Dashboard: Planetary Solvency – Finding Our Balance with Nature and  Planetary Solvency Dashboard ;

Introducing climate inequality and justice to actuaries: https://blog.actuaries.org.uk/introducing-climate-inequality-and-justice-to-actuaries/

Nature-Related Financial Risks Report (Ranger et al) : Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK

Neil Cantle: Systems Thinking Presentation: Unravelling the complexity of risk  and further details, Neil Cantle – Milliman

Primer on biodiversity and nature-related risks, opportunities and regulation for those working in financial institutions  (N. Spencer) https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/biodiversity-nature-related-risks-opportunities-regulation-financial-institutions

The Science of Climate Change (JFAR) . https://actuaries.org.uk/media/oulm5u0u/jfar-the-science-of-climate-change.pdf

The Stern Report: The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review

Three Horizons Framework: https://www.h3uni.org/tutorial/three-horizons/

Podcasts

Fiftyfaces https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/

Outrage and Optimism https://www.outrageandoptimism.org/

Tipping point https://tippingpoint-podcast.com/

The Great Simplification https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/podcast

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