ClimateWise brings together the insurance industry into a member network convened by The University of Cambridge Centre for Sustainable Leadership, which integrates sustainable leadership with world-leading research capability to address the impacts of climate change. ClimateWise is uniquely placed to bring together business, government and academic expertise; it provides a collective voice for the industry, a forum to interact with other stakeholders and; and it enables the transition of the insurance industry through a defined set of Principles aligned to disclosure requirements.

Decisions and positions of the group do not represent the policies or positions of CISL or of the wider University of Cambridge.

Areas of focus

Disclosure

ClimateWise members are required to annually disclose their firm’s response to climate change through the ClimateWise Principles framework. Member reports are independently assessed, scored and benchmarked as a means to track and incentivise progress year on year. A
collective public review is published each
year which serves to inform regulators and broader financial markets on the insurance industry’s response to climate change.

Research

ClimateWise undertakes impact-orientated, collaborative research to help insurers and the wider financial sector proactively
respond to the risks and opportunities
posed by climate change. Three core
themes focus on the industry’s leadership, regulation and climate-risk.

Convening

ClimateWise membership is open to all (re)insurers, brokers and other insurance industry service providers globally who are leaders, or aspire to play a leadership role, in supporting the insurance industry respond to the risks and opportunities of climate change.

The Insurance Advisory Council is comprised of C-suite executives from across ClimateWise’s membership base.

"ClimateWise is an important initiative, assisting the insurance industry in its important role to build societal resilience. Insurers have unique insights into the risks that the world is facing and the ClimateWise Principles provide guidance to share this knowledge more broadly; so informing public policy and supporting the identification, understanding and management of climate risk. Through decisive action, insurance companies can facilitate the transition a low-carbon economy that is resilient to a changing climate, while reducing the climate risk protection gap."

Anna Sweeney, former Chair of the Sustainable Insurance Forum and Executive Director, Insurance, Bank of England

Meet the team

Sid Miller

Programme Director

Dr Nina Seega

Director,
Centre for Sustainable Finance

Latest

Closing the protection gap: ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2016

December 2016 – The ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2016 of the six ClimateWise Principles finds a second year of improved scores for members of the insurance industry leadership group. Members have demonstrated their ongoing support for the zero carbon, climate-resilient transition yet the report finds a need for the industry to do more within its investment activities.

A climate of change: ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2015

November 2015 – The 2015 independent annual review of the six ClimateWise Principles shows improved scores for members of the insurance industry leadership group. Progressive insurance companies are considering their exposure to climate risks while also developing their role as societies' risk managers.

Climate Change: A Risk Assessment

20 July 2015

14 July 2015 – Launch of a new report, commissioned by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office, into the role of governments in the fight against climate change.

How do we protect growth in a world of ‘new normals’?

November 2011 – Last Friday the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approved a new report on ‘Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters for Climate Change Adaptation’. This is compelling reading both for those interested in climate change science, and for those working everyday to protect future economic and social activity.

Moving beyond the uncertainty of climate change risk

April 2012 – Inherent uncertainty means that every statement made in relation to climate change risk must be caveated, but that is not an excuse for inaction.

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: The value of ecosystem resilience to insurers

June 2012 – In 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environmental Degradation were put on the international agenda at the first Earth Summit. Twenty years later nobody can ignore that human development and economic growth rely on healthy and resilient ecosystems but all too often we do, perhaps because it is easier to compartmentalise issues and believe that someone else will deal with the complexity.

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: The role of insurers in strengthening business resilience to climate risk

February 2013 – Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance is Japan's leading general insurance company, established in 1879. In this ClimateWise Thought Leadership article Kunio Ishihara, Chairman of the Board, discusses the role of insurers in supply chain resilience, and where climate change poses particular threats to these supply chains across Asian markets.

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: A one in ten chance: As risk experts do insurers really communicate risk effectively?

July 2013 – Exploring how the perception of risk affects customer responses to climate risk. How risk is perceived is key to whether people take action to manage risk. Advertisers use insights from behavioural science all the time but it is not often considered when looking at responses to unexpected events.