Kathmandu. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organized the Insurance Transformation Forum (FIT). The forum has advocated the establishment of an international working group on climate resilience and transition insurance.
The task force will bring together insurance companies, the wider financial sector, regulators, governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations. The COP30 insurance statement, titled ‘Insurance for Transition’, calls for a coordinated approach to mitigate climate risks, increase insurance eligibility, and promote inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities and economies. The announcement comes ahead of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
The three-pronged role of the insurance sector as risk managers, risk bearers and institutional investors has been emphasized. It also calls for this work and expertise to be recognized in international policy frameworks and integrated into national strategies and action plans for climate change and biodiversity.
The task force will assess and map climate-related risks, losses and gaps in insurance coverage across regions and income levels under different climate and environmental scenarios. This will lay the foundation for equitable and effective risk-sharing strategies.
The task force will also provide actionable guidance to finance ministries and regulators to promote damage prevention, enhance insurance markets, and develop more equitable and sustainable risk sharing methods. “The task force can enhance the capacity of governments, finance ministries and supervisory authorities to manage climate and environmental risks in a structured manner,” the statement said. This includes establishing the position of a country risk officer to lead climate and disaster risk reduction initiatives. ’
The forum also seeks to promote insurance and finance to support the transition to clean energy, nature affirmative initiatives and resilient infrastructure by identifying policies that encourage insurance companies to play a more direct role. This will promote the conditions needed to advance disaster risk modeling and develop risk transfer solutions that broaden access to affordable and sustainable coverage.
The task force will examine policy options to make insurance more accessible and affordable for vulnerable households, marginalized communities, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and critical sectors such as agriculture, while ignoring measures that increase inequality or weaken incentives to reduce risks. The statement also highlighted the risk of a global insurability crisis. This could limit access to other financial services and disrupt economic activity in many regions, it said.
According to AON data, the global economic loss from natural disasters could reach $368 billion in 2024. This has continued a nine-year series of losses of more than $300 billion. About 60 percent of them are uninsured assets.
