Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2025
ISSN
1078-1927
Publisher
Seattle University School of Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
As corporations are increasingly pressed to reveal information about their exposure to climate-related risks, they are often asked to undertake and disclose the outcome of “scenario analysis.” In this exercise, corporations, including financial institutions, examine how their business would fare under different pathways the future may take. One oft-used scenario, for example, is the International Energy Agency’s “Net-Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Energy Sector.” This Essay presents a history of the use of scenarios as a corporate planning tool, particularly in the oil industry, arguing that it is key for understanding our present moment and the role of today’s scenarios in corporate governance. Scenarios are a useful tool, but who makes them matters.
Recommended Citation
Madison Condon,
Corporate Scenarios: Drawing Lessons from History
,
48
Seattle University Law Review
277
(2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/4016
