Podcast
From the Archives: Revisiting the Tail Risks from Climate Change
August 21, 2025
In this special episode, revisit this conversation with Prof. Tim Benton, as we remind ourselves of the devastating potential of the tail risks from climate change.
Our regular listeners will know that we usually to take a break from the podcast in August. But every once in a while, in this fast-moving field of climate and sustainability, it’s helpful to pause and reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, and how far we’ve come.
That’s why we’re re-releasing this episode from the archives, and revisiting a conversation that’s just as relevant today - if not more so - than when it first aired in late 2021.
This conversation about the tail risks from climate change left a huge impression on us at the GARP Risk Institute. The framing of climate risk as non-linear, deeply complex, and capable of amplifying other risks from food insecurity to political instability, was enormously influential on the direction of this podcast.
Today, where the window for an orderly transition is rapidly narrowing, it’s all the more important that we remember the extent of the risks posed by climate change. This episode explores:
- Why the risks associated with even 2.0◦C warming are greater than you might think;
- How climate risks are transmitted through, and amplified by, our interconnected economy; and
- How risk professionals can best prepare for the complex and unpredictable risks of climate change.
To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com
Links from the discussion:
- Climate change risk assessment 2021: Chatham House’s research publication detailing the consequences and systemic cascading risks likely from climate change - https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/climate-change-risk-assessment-2021
- UK Climate Risk Independent Assessment (CCRA3) Technical Report: The UK Climate Change Committee’s independent analysis of the risks and opportunities for the UK - https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/independent-assessment-of-uk-climate-risk/
Speaker’s Bio
Tim Benton, Professor of Population Ecology, University of Leeds
Tim’s research spans food security, sustainability, climate change, ecology, and systemic and interacting risks. Formerly, he was a Distinguished Fellow and Research Director at Chatham House, Environment and Society Centre, working on range of projects about how environmental risks interact with human systems.
From 2011 to 2016, Tim was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme. He has also been a contributing author for the IPCC and has more than 150 published academic papers to his name.
