EDHEC Launches Scientific Climate Ratings to Quantify Financial Impact of Climate Risk
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EDHEC Business School has announced the creation of Scientific Climate Ratings (SCR), the first European rating agency dedicated to assessing the financial materiality of climate-related risks. Developed through research from the EDHEC Climate Institute, SCR is the first initiative of its kind to combine climate science, geospatial data, and financial valuation models in a structured public rating framework.
Initially covering more than 6,000 infrastructure assets, SCR provides forward-looking ratings designed to inform investment, regulatory, and policy decisions. In 2026, its coverage is expected to extend to 5,000 of the world’s largest listed companies.
Two Complementary Climate Risk Ratings
SCR offers two distinct but complementary outputs:
Potential Climate Exposure Ratings (PCER), assessing the degree of exposure to future climate risk under a “continuity” scenario — a projection based on current global policies and emissions trends. PCER uses a transparent A–G rating scale.
Effective Climate Risk Ratings (ECRR), estimating the financial impact of climate risks in Net Asset Value (NAV) terms, through both 2035 and 2050, using multiple scenario pathways weighted by probability. These are also rated on an A–G scale.
The methodology adjusts for asset or company-specific adaptation measures using insights from the ClimaTech database, a research asset developed by the EDHEC Climate Institute. The database includes standardised decarbonisation and resilience strategies along with their documented impacts on emissions and physical damage.
A Collaborative Academic Infrastructure
SCR is the result of cross-disciplinary research involving teams from EDHEC Climate Institute, EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute, and other initiatives supported by EDHEC Business School, including Scientific Infra & Private Assets (SIPA).
EDHEC also acknowledges the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which contributed to the research and development efforts of the EDHEC Infra & Private Assets Research Institute over the past five years.
The agency is led by Rémy Estran-Fraioli, PhD (Chief Executive Officer), Anthony Schrapffer, PhD (Chief Scientific Officer), and Nishtha Manocha, PhD (Chief Operating Officer). The leadership team brings together expertise in climate modelling, financial engineering, and infrastructure analytics.
Camille Angué, Deputy Director of the EDHEC Climate Institute, stated: “Scientific Climate Ratings marks a significant development for the European landscape in climate risk transparency, particularly at a time when leadership in this area is increasingly contested on the global stage. These ratings offer a rigorous, science-based assessment of the material - and thus financial - consequences of climate change. They serve as a clear response to narratives that downplay the economic relevance of climate risks. Supporting such work aligns fully with EDHEC’s academic mission to produce applied research that informs decision-making and fosters greater transparency in financial markets.”
Frédéric Ducoulombier, Research Programme Director at the EDHEC Climate Institute and Founding Director of the EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute, added: This launch represents the latest milestone in the School’s "research for business" journey, which began in 2001. This remarkable initiative is the result of sustained interdisciplinary collaboration across continents. I am grateful for the opportunity to support its development as a member of the Strategic Orientation Committee.
Join an Information Session
To learn more about the ratings and the methodology behind Scientific Climate Ratings, EDHEC Climate Institute is pleased to invite interested stakeholders to an online information session presented by Maria Peykova, Sales Director, and Rémy Estran-Fraioli, Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Climate Ratings.
This session will provide further insight into how the ratings are constructed, their use in investment and regulatory contexts, and how to access the underlying data.
