Representing a growing global network of leading insurance industry organisations, ClimateWise helps to align its members’ expertise to directly support society as it responds to the risks and opportunities of climate change.ClimateWise, as part of the Centre for Sustainable Finance, is uniquely placed to bring together the insurance industry and related organisations with world class academic expertise and global sustainability leaders to collectively and innovatively tackle climate change. |
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, 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
Natalie Thompson
Project Manager
Laura Deltenre
Senior Project Manager
Latest
Premiums 4 Good: redefining the role of insurance in society
17 February 2017
Australian insurer and member of the Lloyds market, QBE, recently launched a new initiative that attempts to realign the interests of its customers with its investment practices. If successful, it could represent a defining moment in the role of insurance in society.
The City Innovation Platform (CIP)
21 December 2016
About One of the major challenges facing the finance sector (investors and insurance) when underwriting emerging economy infrastructure projects, is that the industry only enters the project design process towards the end of the development cycle, even though it is exposed to the greatest degree of...
CIP AIRR pilot project, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
21 December 2016
October 2016 – ClimateWise partners with Santam, Marsh, Sanlam, Munich Re, ICLEI, Global Infrastructure Basel and the UNEP FI PSI in an innovative collaborative model with the Dar es Salaam city leadership to manage the risks and opportunities associated with key public infrastructure projects.
6 December 2016
7 December 2016 – ClimateWise, a global network of 29 insurance industry organisations which is convened by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, has warned of the urgent need to address the growing $100 billion annual climate risk 'protection gap' in two new reports; Investing for Resilience and the ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2016.
1 December 2016
December 2016 – Investing for Resilience explores how the insurance industry can contribute to redirecting substantial flows of capital into resilience enhancing investments. This includes helping in the development of a resilience rating system.
Closing the protection gap: ClimateWise Principles Independent Review 2016
1 December 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.
Natural catastrophes and the protection gap
28 October 2016
Natural catastrophes and the protection gap Robert Muir-Wood is Chief Research Officer at RMS and a member of ClimateWise's working group 2 November 2016 Given the reported increase in the frequency of natural catastrophes, we should ask how much progress we are making in reducing the impacts of...
Climate change: Now’s the time to look outside, to take action within
13 September 2016
Climate change: Now’s the time to look outside, to take action within Tom Herbstein, Senior Programme Manager, ClimateWise, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership 14 September 2016 In September 2015 Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, gave a ground-breaking, and since much-...
Louisiana floods highlight the protection gap
1 September 2016
Louisiana floods highlight the protection gap Tom Herbstein, Senior Programme Manager, ClimateWise, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership 2 September 2016 The current Louisiana floods, with over 40,000 homes damaged, have been described by the Red Cross as the worst US disaster since...
New ClimateWise Insurance Advisory Council to engage global regulators on climate risk
31 May 2016
3 June 2016, supplemented 4 July 2016 – ClimateWise, the insurance industry leadership group facilitated by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership announces members for its new ClimateWise Insurance Advisory Council.
