In a changing climate, nature is critical infrastructure. Healthy ecosystems can reduce the occurrence, severity, extent and consequences of storms, floods, droughts, landslides and wildfires, while ecosystem degradation can amplify risk and increase losses. For insurers, better understanding how ecosystem condition influences climate-related hazards is critical to strengthening resilience and improving risk assessment.
Prepared by the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and the UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF), for the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), this briefing highlights the unique contribution insurers can make to biodiversity and resilience outcomes. Drawing on the work of PSI and IRFF with insurers, reinsurers, brokers and public risk carriers, it highlights key areas for action by governments, regulators and the insurance industry to help advance implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework:
- Recognize insurance as part of biodiversity finance by incorporating insurance and risk transfer into biodiversity finance strategies and GBF implementation efforts.
- Strengthen resilience through healthy ecosystems by aligning biodiversity, climate adaptation and disaster risk agendas and recognizing nature’s role in reducing risk.
- Create the enabling conditions for nature-aware insurance through clear policy signals, supportive regulation, practical methodologies and public-private collaboration.
The briefing also showcases a growing body of insurance-related resources and initiatives that support the integration of nature into insurance practice, including the PSI Climate-Nature Nexus Atlas, which will launch later this week at COP17 as part of the PSI Nature-Aware Underwriting Toolkit. Developed through the PSI Working Group for Nature by more than 50 insurers, reinsurers and brokers with technical support from expert partners, the Atlas helps insurers translate climate-nature relationships into underwriting and risk assessment processes.
Intended for Parties and negotiators, environment and finance ministries, insurance supervisors, development banks, providers of biodiversity finance, insurers and public risk carriers, the briefing provides practical insights into how insurance can contribute to a more resilient, nature-positive and climate-resilient future. It does not speak on behalf of PSI members or any individual institution.
Acknowledgements and funding
This briefing is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
It was developed with the financial support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) under the From Awareness to Action: ENCORE Phase II project.
Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE) is a free online tool that helps organizations explore their exposure to nature-related risk and take steps to understand their dependencies and impacts on nature.