How corporations operationalize climate-related risks and opportunities: Evidence from qualitative expert interviews
As climate change increasingly reshapes business models and value chains, companies face growing pressure to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities. This study examines how organizations respond to these evolving expectations, particularly within established reporting frameworks such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Drawing on eight semi-structured interviews with sustainability professionals across multiple industries, the research explores how firms interpret and operationalize disclosure requirements in practice. Using the GABEK method in WinRelan, the analysis maps expert perspectives and identifies underlying meaning structures that shape corporate responses.
The results confirm the central role that the TCFD continues to play as a reference point for climate-related disclosure both as a regulatory foundation and as a conceptual framework for structuring corporate responses to climate risks. At the same time, the analysis reveals significant heterogeneity in how companies approach the topic, suggesting that the institutionalization of climate risk reporting is still at an early and uneven stage.Overall, the findings suggest that advancing climate-related risk and opportunity analysis requires a coordinated interplay between regulatory guidance, organizational capability development, and enabling digital infrastructures.
