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Scenario Analyses
08 / 10 Chronic physical lighter-depth

Cold & freeze

Cold extremes and freeze exposure: the hazard that does not disappear in a warming world.

The question it answers

Where does cold and freeze exposure still threaten our assets, processes or supply, even as average temperatures rise?

What it does

Screening cold & freeze across a portfolio

  • Screens assets for cold and freeze exposure using minimum-temperature extremes.
  • Bands the result on the shared physical-risk axis.
  • Projects how cold exposure eases — or persists — across scenarios and horizons.
How it works

Inputs in, banded result out

The governed model combines the inputs below into a single banded, scenario-aware result, under formal version and change control.

Inputs

  • Annual minimum temperature (TNn)
  • Asset coordinates

Governed model

Cold & freeze

Anchored to public, peer-reviewed climate science.

Version and change controlled

Outputs

  • Asset cold band
  • Scenario–horizon trajectory
Inputs & sources

What goes in, and where it comes from

  • Annual minimum temperature (TNn)

    CMIP6

    The cold-extreme signal — the coldest night of the year.

  • Asset coordinates

    Client asset register

    Snapped to the 0.25° grid.

Scenario assumptions

The futures we test

  • Cold extremes are read per SSP scenario and horizon.
  • Warming generally eases cold exposure, but the trajectory varies by region and is not uniform.
  • The band reflects extreme-cold exposure, not average winter conditions.
Method

How the result is built

  1. Read the minimum-temperature extreme at the asset cell for each scenario and horizon.
  2. Index it onto the shared physical-risk scale.
  3. Band as Low / Medium / High.
  4. Build the trajectory across horizons.
Outputs

What you get back

  • Asset cold band

    Cold / freeze exposure at screening resolution.

  • Scenario–horizon trajectory

    How cold exposure changes with warming.

  • Low
  • Medium
  • High

Cold exposure trajectory

Many locations ease over time — but read the baseline band first, because cold risk is present-day.

Baseline 2030 2040 2050
Interpretation

How to read the band

  • Cold exposure usually eases under warming, so a falling trajectory is common — but the baseline band still flags present-day freeze risk.
  • Relevant to freeze-sensitive processes, water and pipework, and cold-chain logistics.
  • A lighter model: fewer inputs, a single dominant signal.

Disclosure relevance

  • IFRS S2 Completeness of physical-hazard coverage, including cold extremes.
  • TCFD Physical hazard screening across the asset base.

Limitations

  • Screening scope: a single-signal screen, lighter than the full hazard models.
  • Local frost pockets, wind-chill and snow loading are not represented.
  • 0.25° inputs smooth local cold extremes.

Screening-level analysis; not investment or engineering advice.

Bring cold & freeze screening to your portfolio

Screened, banded and framed for IFRS S2 and TCFD disclosure.