Climate risk assessment for pharmaceutical plant

Related theme: Sustainable Business Operations

The company, part of a leading global industrial group in the pharmaceutical sector, is a leader in and manufactures imaging agents used in a range of medical diagnostic procedures. They required a climate risk assessment in compliance to ISO 14091 certification, and in order to receive support in this process, the company commissioned TAUW Italy to assist them.

Challenge - Site-specific risk assessments

Following the update of the ISO standards with the new amendment on climate risk assessment (October 2024), the client was required to evaluate the potential vulnerability and impact generated by climate change at own site in preparation to a potential adaptation plan. The climate risk assessment has to be tailored to the specific site and economic activity, thoroughly evaluating the geographic exposure to climate hazards and the sensitivity of various elements, including buildings, production facilities, utilities, personnel, accessibility and sales/delivery channels.

This assessment should be grounded in factual information and relevant data, leveraging the most recent regional studies and internal performance metrics to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. Climate risk assessments are a relatively new requirement and various departments within the plant must consult on topics that may not fall within their area of expertise. This can pose challenges, as each department may need to collaborate and share knowledge to effectively address climate-related issues.

The Industrial Group consists of various companies and manufacturing plants. At Group level action has already been taken under the CSRD to report on sustainability. But no specific climate risk assessments had been made for this particular site. TAUW was asked to identify the vulnerabilities to climate change for that site. We needed to evaluate the critical parameters for the manufacturing activities, then assess how various climate risks could affect these activities and what mitigating measures to implement.

Solution - Assessing risks and stress testing

We collaborated closely with the company's functions to gather accurate data and assess potential vulnerabilities. As a result, we proposed measures to prevent and mitigate the negative effects of climate change. 

Our analysis identified two main areas of concern:

• Temperature Increase Without concerted efforts to combat climate change, global temperatures are expected to rise by 1.5°C by 2050. We estimate that local temperatures could increase during certain times of the year. We identified critical parameters influenced by temperature levels and assessed the maximum tolerance against potential future scenarios. Our recommendations included actions to enhance plant's resilience to this climate risk by strengthening the redundancy of utilities and mitigating the cumulative impacts generated by indirect effects, such as the heat island effect.
• Flood Hazard Climate change leads to more extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall over short periods. While the site may not be located in an area at risk for river flooding, pluvial flooding cannot be ruled out. We emphasized the site's sensitivity by reviewing the design parameters of the drainage system to evaluate its resilience against potential impacts.

Impact - Safeguarding production for community health

This climate risk assessment represents a small but crucial step for the client’s operations. Their products are utilized in hospitals throughout Italy and around the world to aid in the prevention of illnesses, thereby benefiting the community. By ensuring the company’s resilience to climate change, the climate risk assessment will help ensure the support continued operations.

Conducting a climate risk assessment for the individual plant offers distinct advantages over group-wide assessments. By identifying site-specific risks and proposing tailored solutions, our Client will be able to implement targeted and more cost-effective mitigation measures.

Partnership - Communicating climate change

As an engineering consultancy, TAUW collaborates closely with technical, financial and operational departments.

In this project, we successfully raised awareness among the various departments of the plant regarding the potential hazards associated with climate change. Our assessment report and guidance will equip the client to make informed decisions as they move forward.’’