Marsh McLennan Partners with UN Climate Change High-Level Champions and Arsht-Rock to Support Race to Resilience and Advance Insurance Sector Action on Climate Adaptation

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), the world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people, in partnership with the Atlantic Council’s Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock), will help mobilize the insurance sector in support of the UN’s Race to Resilience by championing innovative disaster risk reduction initiatives that move communities from a reliance on recovery to focusing on resilience. Race to Resilience is a global campaign catalyzing a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience.

“Through this initiative, we are showcasing the world’s most innovative and impactful insurance-based climate adaptation projects and applying a simple and clear framework for industry engagement,” said Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt, COP27. “Our aim is to scale amongst others, the (re)insurance sector’s impact on climate adaptation and facilitate engagement with projects in need of support.”

Julian Enoizi, Global Head of Public Sector Risk Solutions, Guy Carpenter, a business of Marsh McLennan: “We are proud to be engaged in this work today, partnering with government and insurers to build public-private partnerships that help communities build resilience to climate change. Through effective financial investments and targeted on-the-ground interventions, the global insurance industry can help increase our resilience to a hotter, more volatile planet.”

The campaign features 17 projects which are redefining the role of insurance in global disaster planning. Marsh McLennan’s businesses and Arsht-Rock are directly involved in several of these projects, including a pilot for a community-based catastrophe insurance model for vulnerable populations in New York City, a blended capital funding structure in Santiago, Chile, and integrated disaster risk reduction and microinsurance programs in Mexico and India.

“We know that a dollar invested in disaster preparation and prevention saves up to eleven dollars in response funding. Ironically, 88 percent of all disaster relief comes after the catastrophe,” said Kathy Baughman McLeod, Senior VP and Director, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center. “Imagine the human pain and economic loss that we could prevent if we could reverse this model.”

This initiative will launch at COP 27 on November 10 at 10:00 a.m. EET as part of the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership programme on resilience.

An accompanying report Fulfilling a Legacy of Societal Risk Management features more information about the initiative, the capabilities framework and the pioneering projects.

Following the conference, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, Marsh McLennan and other supporters will dialogue with (re)insurers globally to seek their participation in scaling these projects and engage on potential approaches to accelerate the sector’s impact on these issues.

More information about how Marsh McLennan and its four global businesses – Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman – are working with clients to embed climate change strategies into their priorities as well as the Company's COP27 initiatives is available here.

About Marsh McLennan
Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC) is the world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people. The Company’s 86,000 colleagues advise clients in 130 countries. With annual revenue of over $20 billion, Marsh McLennan helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment through four market-leading businesses. Marsh provides data-driven risk advisory services and insurance solutions to commercial and consumer clients. Guy Carpenter develops advanced risk, reinsurance and capital strategies that help clients grow profitably and pursue emerging opportunities. Mercer delivers advice and technology-driven solutions that help organizations redefine the world of work, reshape retirement and investment outcomes, and unlock health and wellbeing for a changing workforce. Oliver Wyman serves as a critical strategic, economic and brand advisor to private sector and governmental clients. For more information, visit marshmclennan.com, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter or subscribe to BRINK.

About the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center
The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) at the Atlantic Council builds individual and community resilience in the face of climate impacts. We are driven to action by the critical need to address the widespread and intensifying consequences of climate change and related risks — threatening our communities, natural ecosystems, economic development, and political stability. We pledge to reach one billion people around the world with resilience solutions to climate change by 2030. For more information visit onebillionresilient.org.