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Event
- Posted: 21 Oct 2026
Beyond the Floodline: Are Building Societies Watching the Right Climate Risk?
23
Nov
2026
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Time: 10:00 - 11:00
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Location: Webinar
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Organised By: Katalysys
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Free to attend (Building Society and Credit Union Members only)
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Katalysys
A free webinar hosted by BSA Associate, Katalysys
We’ll explore risks that rarely appear in risk registers, and ask whether the sector really needs so many versions of truth. SS5/25 lets each society set its own approach, but should the science underneath be its own too?
Why this session, and why now?
Most building societies, like most smaller banks, track little physical climate risk beyond flood. The largest UK banks fell short here too: the Bank of England’s 2021 climate stress test found that “some banks did not consider physical risks beyond flooding.” The usual reasons are easy to understand. Other hazards appear to cause small losses compared with flood, they offer no obvious financial upside, and the PRA’s principles-based approach leaves materiality to each firm’s judgement, so nothing forces the question.
The argument:
Flood is a lagging indicator; heat is the leading one. A warmer atmosphere holds around 7% more water vapour for every degree of warming, so rainfall becomes heavier and floods follow. The evidence is already visible:
This session challenges what building societies believe about managing climate risk. Flood has become the sector’s go-to measure of physical climate risk. But what if it shows where risk has already landed, not where it’s heading? What are you missing?
We’ll explore risks that rarely appear in risk registers, and ask whether the sector really needs so many versions of truth. SS5/25 lets each society set its own approach, but should the science underneath be its own too?
Why this session, and why now?
Most building societies, like most smaller banks, track little physical climate risk beyond flood. The largest UK banks fell short here too: the Bank of England’s 2021 climate stress test found that “some banks did not consider physical risks beyond flooding.” The usual reasons are easy to understand. Other hazards appear to cause small losses compared with flood, they offer no obvious financial upside, and the PRA’s principles-based approach leaves materiality to each firm’s judgement, so nothing forces the question.
The argument:
Flood is a lagging indicator; heat is the leading one. A warmer atmosphere holds around 7% more water vapour for every degree of warming, so rainfall becomes heavier and floods follow. The evidence is already visible:
- UK domestic flood claims reached £312m in 2025, up 38% on 2024.
- Six of the UK’s ten wettest years since 1862 have come in the last 30 years.
- Junes reaching 33°C or more: none between 1996 and 2010, seven since 2011.
- Drought: July 2026 was England’s driest since records began in 1836, reservoir storage fell from 75% to 57% over the summer, and the Environment Agency has recorded three droughts in five years.
- Wildfire: by week 31 of 2026, the area burnt in the UK was 80% above the 14-year average, after 2025 became the worst year on record.
The proposal:
The session will also set out how building societies could work together on a shared scientific baseline for physical climate risk.
Speaker:
- Anindya Ghosh Chowdhury, Chief Growth Officer, Katalysys. Come ready to question your assumptions, and leave rethinking where your climate risk work should start.
Event Summary
- Monday, 23 November 2026
- 10:00 - 11:00
- anindya.gchowdhury@katalysys.com
- Free to attend (Building Society and Credit Union Members only)
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