GARP SCR Sustainability and Climate Risk Exam Practice Test
Sustainability and Climate Risk Questions and Answers
Which of the following greenhouse gases (GHGs) has the longest lifetime in the atmosphere?
A company reduces water usage and increases usage of more expensive resources after regulations become more stringent. This most likely impacts:
In response to consumer demand for eco-friendly products, a global personal care company develops a net-zero transition plan. The company sustainability team recommends an appropriate carbon accounting method for the plan. Which of the following country-level emission accounting methods is most likely recommended and why?
A climate analyst at a research institution analyzes climate risk for various companies. The analyst examines transmission channels of climate risk as part of the risk identification process.
Which of the following examples can the analyst use to describe an operational risk transmission channel?
Senior management of a sportswear manufacturer will issue a bond to optimize company capital structure, while providing investors with an opportunity to contribute to positive transformation of the fashion industry. Management prefers a bond with a high rate of issuance, and the company sustainability team researches various green and sustainable finance instruments and issuance information over the past 5 years. The team recommends a bond that globally posted the highest growth in issuance between 2019 and 2020.
Which bond did the team recommend?
Which of the following technologies is most likely to be viewed by investors as a strategic solution to the decarbonization of high-temperature processes?
A sustainability analyst at a global commercial bank researches trends surrounding the green loan market in China to develop a new business strategy. The analyst finds green loans are gaining popularity in various sectors due to environmental and financial benefits. If the analyst recommends the addition of green loans to the business strategy, what China market trend most likely supports this decision?
An investment management firm signs a net zero asset management initiative. An analyst engages with client companies to encourage adoption of targets that align with Paris Agreement goals. The analyst provides clients with a guide explaining the principles and protocols unique to the Paris Agreement.
How will the analyst most likely describe the feature that distinguishes the Paris Agreement?
A large real estate investment firm increases resources to understand transition and physical risks as it expands into markets with climate regulations and increasing flooding events. Senior leadership requires the risk team train all business units in understanding how both climate risks can impact operations.
During this process, how should the risk team define commonalities between both risks?
A large European bank implements the PRB and hires an external auditor to assess implementation progress. After an initial assessment, the auditor prepares recommendations to improve governance and culture practices within the bank. Which of the following actions did the external auditor most likely recommend?
A climate scientist develops a presentation on modern climate change for a group of policymakers.
What observation does the scientist include in the presentation that provides evidence of human attribution to current climate change?
In response to policy and technology changes, a cement manufacturer looks for new opportunities to raise profits by reducing GHG emissions. Because the cement industry accounts for a considerable percentage of global emissions, the manufacturer joins a coalition of company peers. The coalition lobbies country governments to adhere to the Paris Agreement nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
Which of the following actions does the coalition recommend?
A multi-industry consortium convenes risk managers from across the globe to discuss climate impacts on global trade and economic growth. A climate modeler leads a discussion on macro-level physical changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and highlights two climatic trends that demonstrate an inverse relationship in recent decades.
What two trends does the modeler highlight?
A major hurricane extensively damages the electrical infrastructure of a utility company. To improve the utility’s risk management, the risk director prepares a strategy plan and incorporates climate risk considerations within the existing risk management framework.
Which recommendation should the director make to incorporate climate risk into the framework’s risk identification component?
A risk manager at a fertilizer production company prepares a GHG emissions report on company product usage, emissions, and energy sources. The manager notes the company adequately tracks and proactively manages carbon emissions. However, the manager identifies several non-carbon emitting activities that can affect the climate through radiative forcing. Which of the following positive radiative forcing drivers will the manager most likely identify?
An international chemical manufacturing company produces a variety of consumer and industrial goods and services. To progress company alignment with the SDGs, the sustainability director suggests incorporating nature-based strategies.
Which strategy best represents a nature-based solution for the company?
The Commissioners of Insurance for a state in the western United States recommends all insurers now report annually on climate change, using TCFD guidance.
Which of the following sectors do the commissioners correctly identify as encompassing the full scope of the TCFD recommendations?
A climate risk consultant advises an Eastern European central bank. In response to regulatory changes, the bank will incorporate climate-related risks into bank policies. The consultant writes a summary on how central banks incorporated climate-related risks into policies. The summary highlights the Bank of England (BoE) example to demonstrate how the BoE integrated climate-related risks within the bank supervisory scope.
Which of the following BoE practices will the consultant recommend?
The CRO of an automobile manufacturer in North America prepares a keynote address on risks in the auto sector over the next decade. The CRO highlights the primary technology risks facing its line of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
At approximately what point will many manufacturers of ICE vehicles experience a significant technology risk?
A solar panel manufacturing company for renewable energy systems makes a 2040 net-zero commitment. The company sustainability director references the COSO ERM framework to inform the company’s long-term growth strategy. Which approach will the director most likely use to effectively assess the impact of transition risk on the business strategy?
A global investment bank expands its risk department to include climate risk assessment. Senior management directs the department to implement approaches for evaluating how climate change affects traditional risk types. A risk manager recommends risk metrics for key risk types that measure physical and transition risk impacts.
To measure credit risk, which metric should the analyst recommend?
The central bank of a Southeast Asian country joins the NGFS to address climate-related risks and promote financial stability. To align with the central bank mandate and NGFS recommendations, the risk team prioritizes NGFS recommendations directly applying to the bank role in the financial system. Which central bank action will the team most likely prioritize during implementation?
A large insurance company in South America expands use of climate scenario analysis. The company used RCPs in previous scenario analyses but now hires an actuary with climate expertise to incorporate SSPs in this process.
How can the actuary advise the insurance company use SSPs going forward?
The CRO for a large agriculture company reviews reference scenarios as part of an annual climate scenario analysis exercise. The CRO creates a transition risk matrix that compares four different scenarios - W, X, Y, Z. Scenarios are compared according to scale of emissions cuts and pace of emission cuts. Scale is depicted as business as usual (BAU) to net-zero. Pace is depicted as orderly to disorderly. The CRO uses this matrix to explain transition risk to the company’s executive members:
How should the CRO rank the reference scenarios from lowest level of transition risk to highest level of transition risk?
A Central American country signs the Paris Agreement to align actions and policies to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C. The country’s environmental agency develops a nationally determined contribution plan that includes domestic, economy-wide, and sector-specific policies. The power generation sector is most comprehensively covered by the plan.
Which policy included in the plan targets the power generation sector?
A climate scientist is invited to a morning news program to discuss human influence on Earth’s climate. Prior to the program, a producer asserts climate change is a natural process, citing Earth’s historical climate shifts. What example does the scientist most likely provide to highlight human influence on climate?
The risk team at an agricultural company in Easter Europe evaluates crop yield production performance. The evaluation reveals high temperature and water shortages will likely harm crop production, and current company insurance will not mitigate this exposure. The team recommends increasing coverage by purchasing an additional insurance policy that includes area yield protection.
According to the COSO ERM framework, which risk response strategy did the team recommend?
A federal regulator analyzes how the increasing frequency of natural disasters may impact the banking sector. The regulator reviews and evaluates the potential for widespread climate events to simultaneously affect multiple financial institutions and drive cascading economic disruptions. What risk type is the regulator most likely evaluating?
A coalition of African central banks reviews member bank prudential policies for alignment with climate-related financial risk mitigation. To shape the coalition’s climate risk and business continuity planning objectives, coalition leaders review key risk metrics. Which of the following metrics will the coalition most likely use to evaluate operational risk due to climate change?
An investment analyst assesses climate-related stranded asset risk for a portfolio of energy companies. The analyst develops a list of companies potentially exhibiting stranded asset risk. After a more granular examination, the analyst summarizes corporate activity in the following table:
The analyst identifies the company with the highest stranded asset exposure for possible divestment. Which company does the analyst recommend for divestment?
To assess potential business implications of climate change, a large manufacturing company implements scenario analysis for the first time. The company hires a consultant to help incorporate climate-related considerations into a model of the company’s potential business outcomes.
What useful scenario analysis information should the consultant make the company aware of?
A senior advisor from a government agency in Southeast Asia proposes a national framework to classify sustainable economic activities, aligned with the EU Taxonomy. The new framework will limit environmental harm and promote sustainable growth. Which EU Taxonomy requirement will the advisor most likely incorporate into the proposed framework?
A team of climate risk specialists at a global non-profit research organization prepares a study on climate policy and achieving national climate change mitigation targets. The study focuses on actors, non-state and subnational (NSA) participants, and actions that can be taken to impact climate policy.
How should the team describe effective climate policy and climate change mitigation targets?
A European bank considers investing in an offshore wind farm project. A bank ESG analyst assists in the origination and execution of green and sustainable finance transactions to finance the project. The analyst recommends a loan to finance the project by gathering related materials on sustainability-linked loans (SLLs), green loans, and corresponding market trends.
Which of the following loans is the analyst likely to recommend?
The risk team for a multinational company, that operates and franchises hotel and timeshare properties, prepares talking points for an upcoming business continuity plan meeting. A key area for discussion are the risks that can impact the company’s financial and reputational stability. The team recommends the company conduct climate-related scenario analysis and provides examples of scenarios and their use.
Which of the following is correct for the team to include as part of the talking points?