The world’s biggest companies have started adding up the financial risks they face from climate change–and for 215 companies that disclosed those potential costs in a new report, the total financial impact could be nearly $1 trillion. Many of those costs could occur within the next five years.

CDP, a nonprofit that has been gathering climate-related information from companies for 20 years, published a new report that included estimates of specific costs for the first time. Even though costs in the report are enormous, at around $970 billion, the total cost to businesses will be far larger, because only a small fraction of companies reported.

Companies face a huge range of risks, from flooded factories to reduced demand for some products because consumers are responding to climate change. They reported $250 billion in potential losses from assets that may have to be abandoned, whether those are polluting power plants that need to close early or properties near coastlines that can’t be used because of flooding.

That balance between preparing for loses and scoping out opportunities pervades the report. The companies that gave specific figures in the report estimated that climate change could create $2.1 trillion in business growth for them. In some cases, that represents an opportunistic approach to the problem. Power companies estimate that electric bills could go up as people need to use air conditioners more often. But there’s also money to be made in solutions like solar power that address the root problem of emissions.

The report summarizes company responses from 2018, and data collection for 2019 is now underway. CDP expects that more companies will be able to provide numbers this year. It’s information that investors want, and as companies better understand their own risks, it can also lead to changes.

Read the full article about the impact of climate change on the world's biggest companies by Adele Peters at Fast Company.