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Risks related to climate change
Together with an external partner, AAK has during 2019
started to identify the physical and operational risks
of climate change at our production sites. We have
decided to first focus on water-related risks because of
an increased number of extreme weather events globally
linked to water as well as the potentially destructive
power of water. The evaluation gives us input on risk
exposure to production loss due to water-related
hazards. The inherent risk exposure and the residual
risk with regard to mitigation actions and plans will be
discussed and implemented at each site. Draft reports
have been submitted by more than half of our sites and
the work will be further refined during 2020.
As soon as all areas required by AAK have been
covered and all production sites have been implemented,
the results can be used to determine the
financial loss/implications and opportunities due to
climate change before further actions are initiated. You
can read more about the evaluation under Mitigating
risks in a dynamic environment in our Sustainability
Report.
Disruptions to critical IT systems
AAK uses modern IT infrastructure and technology to
support its business. Disruptions to critical IT systems
could potentially have an impact on the business.
Therefore, this is a risk that needs to be analyzed and
mitigated with the objective to prevent possible issues
and minimize impact. This work is conducted by Group
IT together with our local entities. Our critical IT systems
are audited annually, with security, internal processes
and compliance in focus.
Cyber security has a very high priority at AAK and in
order to minimize external threats, we are continuously
investing in technology that is operated by a highly
skilled staff. The Group IT Security Policy is implemented
at all AAK units, and a common framework is
used for our global IT infrastructure.
Changes in external factors
Business operations are affected by raw material
prices, transport costs, energy prices, interest rates
and exchange rates. Our employees are experienced
in reacting quickly to changes in external factors and
adapting operations, products and services to customer
needs.