By Jeff Dunsavage, Head of Research Publications and Insights, Triple-I
The insurance industry turned out in force for this year’s Climate Week NYC. In formal presentations and between-session conversations, a dominant theme was the importance of collaboration and of aligning incentives across co-beneficiary groups.
ClimateTech Connect (CTC) assembled a slate of speakers from across the technology and insurance spaces. Insurance industry representatives included Steve Bowen, chief science officer at Gallagher Re; Nicholas Peterson, sales director at Munich Re Risk Management Partners; and Joshua Hershman, Connecticut’s insurance commissioner. Data and technology organizations represented included Near Space Labs, First Street, Tessi, Tenax AI, and Resiliocs Intelligence.
Of note was the launch of three “CTC Peril Labs,” aimed at proactively closing specific structural gaps across three perils: Flood, wildfire, and severe convective storms. All three labs begin from the same principle: “Community is not just a stakeholder, it is the purpose.”
“Community must be at the center of resilience planning,” said CTC advisor Angela Grant. “Losses fall disproportionately on those least able to absorb them, governments are left with budget deficits that crowd out development spending for years, and the protection gap widens with each event.”
With Veronika Torarp, insurance and sustainability lead for PwC co-advising all three labs with Grant, the peril-specific leads are:
Severe convective storms:
- Mike Gulla, co-founder and CEO, Adaptive Insurance; and
- Kieran Bhatia, senior vice president and climate and sustainability lead, Marsh Re (previously Guy Carpenter).
Flood:
- Shelley Close, founder and CEO, True Flood Risk; and
- Garrett Bradford, GIS consultant, Milliman.
Wildfire:
- Phillip Cunningham, global wildfire lead, Gallagher Re; and
- Heather Kanzlemar, principle and consulting actuary, Milliman.
Centrality of community was also a theme at two events held by Marsh. The first, titled “Addressing Insurability: A Playbook for Investing in Place-Based Resilience”, was co-led by the World Economic Forum and revolved around a publication of the same name co-authored by the organizations. More than simply presenting the paper, Marsh managing director Amy Barnes emphasized at the outset that the intention of the event was to capture the audience’s feedback so it would be reflected in an updated version of the playbook they bring to the next UN Climate Change Conference in November. To capture that feedback, the audience was broken into moderated discussion groups after the panel.
The following day, Marsh held another event – “The Resilience Premium: Accelerating Adaptation in a Riskier World.” This one consisted of two panels that delved into quantifying the need for and challenges facing resilience investment and what’s currently being done to incentivize it.
All these discussions recognized the importance of insurance. At the same time, they all reflected a growing awareness of the need to align the interests and incentives of all co-beneficiaries of resilience investment. Insurance is essential to building a more resilient world – but it is not sufficient.
