Energy Security Turns Sustainability Into a Resilience Imperative

In the fast-moving and everchanging world of risk management within financial services, the relationship between sustainability and resilience has fundamentally changed.

Søren Agergaard Andersen, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, believes geopolitical disruption and energy insecurity have transformed energy transition from a values-driven agenda into a business-critical resilience imperative.

Speaking during a panel discussion on resilience, Andersen described a world characterized by increasing volatility, interconnected risks, and unexpected disruptions. “Risks are materializing in new ways,” he said, noting that organizations are now encountering threats that were previously absent from risk registers altogether.

From his perspective in the energy sector, the weaponization of energy markets has become one of the most significant developments in recent years. Geopolitical tensions are creating new risks for investors, projects, and supply chains, while simultaneously reinforcing the importance of energy independence and diversification.

These developments expose a difficult reality. While renewable energy can improve resilience by reducing dependency on traditional fuel sources, the construction of large-scale energy infrastructure remains heavily dependent on

global supply chains.

“You still need goods to move around, and your supply chain needs to move,” Andersen observed.

To address this complexity, Andersen advocates a more integrated approach to scenario analysis. His organization seeks to translate diverse operational, geopolitical, and financial risks into a common business metric by examining their impact on investment returns.

“If I can play that scenario all the way through,” he explained, “what does this mean for my IRR?” This approach enables decision-makers to compare different risks using a consistent framework and determine whether outcomes remain within acceptable risk appetite levels.