Auditors Mum on Risks That Climate Poses for Corporate Profits

Even as scorching temperatures break records and insurers abandon hurricane-prone areas of the US, the financial toll of altered weather patterns and business strategies doesn’t surface in most corporate balance sheets or income statements.

Auditors, too, have been silent on the impact the threat from a warming planet could have on companies’ long-term success, even survival.

Although auditors weigh climate-related risks as they vet corporate revenue and liabilities, that work isn’t reflected in their annual reports to the market. Investors say that leaves them in the dark about business models at risk of drying up and how soon profits may ...