Marsh: Climate Change - Top of the Risks for Businesses says Business Continuity Expo Survey

(M2 PressWIRE Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
RDATE:26032008

Climate change will be considered a major threat to business in the
next ten years according to a survey out today on "emerging risks"
conducted by Business Continuity Expo 2008 and sponsored by Marsh, the
world's leading insurance broker and risk adviser. 87% of businesses
see climate change as the single biggest threat in terms of risk
assessment and the effect it could have on their businesses future
growth, with many at a loss as to what can be done in order to prepare
or plan for this eventuality. This threat to the continuity and
long-term success of their business is ahead of terrorism, pandemic
flu, flooding, the credit crunch, government red-tape and outsourcing
and offshoring. The survey was conducted amongst 150 major UKand
European companies.

Also of great concern to 83% of businesses is the risk that traditional
sources of energy will reduce and the cost of oil and gas will rise so
significantly over the next 5 years that it will have an adverse effect
on the smooth running of their business. Sixty percent are not
prepared for this eventuality and see it as a major threat which
indicates a gap in their knowledge regarding alternative sources of
energy and are awaiting an answer instead of pro-actively seeking an
answer.

At next week's Business Continuity Expo, which will be held at London's
Excel from 2nd-3rd April, one of the most popular seminar and keynote
sessions is expected to be around the issues of business continuity and
outsourcing. This is mirrored in the concerns of business continuity
practitioners who have responded to the survey and have grave concerns
over the shortcomings and risks of their own outsourcing and offshoring
practices. Although these have been undertaken as a means of cutting
costs, 65% are worried that the they have underestimated and poorly
understood the risks associated with outsourcing and offshoring with
46% admitting that in some cases the risks outweigh the anticipated
benefits and they are not prepared for interruptions or breaks in their
outsourcing and offshoring practices.

It would appear that the underperformance or failure of suppliers now
represents as big a threat to business as an internal failure or
disruption as 61% of companies are concerned about the failure of
suppliers not performing, with a third admitting they are unprepared
for this risk, which demonstrates that supply chain risks are
underestimated and businesses lack the necessary understanding to deal
with them.

The crisis over subprime lending and the credit crunch is a hot topic
at the moment and a number of financial services have found themselves
in difficulty as a result. The survey found that 33% of businesses
believe they will be affected by subprime lending and the credit crunch
of which 40% are not prepared for the effect it will have on them.
Forty four percent of large companies in the financial sector consider
this to be a threat yet only 25% are prepared for this to hit them.

Sixty percent of businesses believe there will be a terrorist attack on
UKsoil within the next 18 months with 73% of these companies having
planned for such an event. Seventy five percent of large manufacturing
companies who said they thought there would be a terrorist attack
admitted they had not prepared or planned for such an incident.

Following the floods of 2007 and the recent storms, 74% of businesses
see adverse weather as a real threat of which 70% are prepared.
However, 40% of small manufacturing firms and 50% of large retails
firms who see adverse weather as having a significant effect on British
business admit to not having a plan in place.

Martin Caddick , Leader of Marsh's Business Continuity Management team,
said: "Climate change and energy risk consistently rank among the
biggest challenges facing global businesses in 2008. While the
majority of firms surveyed have accurately identified the major risks
that could affect their businesses, fewer seem to be successful in
tackling them head on. This lack of preparedness continues to be a
major issue for European firms in today's turbulent times."

Marsh will be exhibiting at Business Continuity Expo and also
participating in a number of seminars including "How to Win over the
Board for Business Continuity" Marsh will be joining forces with
Cadbury Schweppes and the CBIto offer their "pearls of wisdom" on how
to convince the Board of Directors to take business continuity and risk
management seriously.

For the full findings of the survey you can visit Marsh on stand 220 at
Business Continuity Expo from 2nd-3rd April at London's Excel.

For FREEentry and further information about Business Continuity - The
Risk Management Expo and the co-located paid-for Business Continuity
Conference, visit the website www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk

For further press information please contact Yvonne Eskenzion +44 (0)20
7183 2832 or email Bizcontinuitypr@eskenzipr.com

About Marsh

Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor, has
26,000 employees and provides advice and transactional capabilities to
clients in over 100 countries. Marsh is a unit of Marsh & McLennan
Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with more than
55,000 employees and annual revenue exceeding $11 billion. MMC also is
the parent company of Guy Carpenter, the risk and reinsurance
specialist; Kroll, the risk consulting firm; Mercer, the provider of HR
and related financial advice and services; and Oliver Wyman, the
management consultancy. MMC's stock (ticker symbol: MMC) is listed on
the New York, Chicagoand Londonstock exchanges.MMC's Web Site is
www.mmc.com. Marsh's Web site is www.marsh.com.

((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information
provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties.
Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at
http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to
info@m2.com)).

Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd.

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