‘Disaster Risk Finance for Public Infrastructure Assets in the Developing World: Opportunities and Challenges’ is the first dialogue in the DRI Dialogue Series under the theme ‘Finance for Resilient Infrastructure’. Planned in collaboration with our partners, Insuresilience Global Partnership and Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, the discussion will explore several key questions regarding the design, scope, and viability of risk financing schemes for public infrastructure in developing countries. It will focus on sovereign disaster risk financing solutions.
The participants will also deliberate upon the benefits and costs of risk financing solutions and if and how such solutions can be supported though interventions of governments, multilateral development banks and other international organizations. Further, the dialogue will discuss the role of different stakeholders, particularly in creating necessary public policy and regulation and enabling the market development for the same. Finally, the deliberation will highlight the relevance of risk financing instruments in a comprehensive disaster risk financing strategy for the governments to effectively avert, reduce and mitigate disaster losses and interruptions to critical infrastructure services, and to build-back-better.
As Head of InsuResilience Secretariat since 2017, Astrid Zwick has been supporting the InsuResilience Global Partnership of the G20/V20 in its goal to foster climate and disaster risk finance and insurance.
From 2010 to 2016 she worked for Munich Re Group as Head of Department for “Corporate Responsibility”, being in charge of setting up and implementing its Corporate Responsibility Strategy. She also chaired the UN Environment Finance Initiative’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Working Group between 2010 and 2012.
From 2000 to 2010 Astrid Zwick was Head of the Allianz Group Sustainability Office. During 2005-2008 she chaired the Steering Committee “Research for Sustainability” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Between 1994 and 1999 she was in charge of policy advice on climate change at the European Commission Institute for Technological Prospective Studies.
Astrid Zwick holds a doctoral degree in climate change research (Institute for Ecological Chemistry/GSF, Helmholtz Center, Munich and Technical University, Munich-Weihenstephan) and a diploma in Geology/Paleontology (Ludwigs-Maximilians-University, Munich).
Samantha Cook is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist within the Crisis and Disaster Risk Finance team in the Finance Competitiveness and Innovations global practice where she coordinates the crisis and disaster risk management program in South Asia, the Caribbean and manages the Trust Fund for supporting disaster risk finance solutions in middle income countries financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs . Her role focuses on the development of integrated disaster risk financing and insurance solutions leveraging best practices in public financial management.
Dr Nicola Ranger is Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment and Head of Climate and Environmental Risk Research, Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme within the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Nicola has almost two decades of experience working across government, industry and academia. She has previously held positions at the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development (now FCDO) on disaster risk finance. She has a background in climate and catastrophe risk modelling, insurance, economics, public finance and policy, including roles at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Risk Management Solutions and HM Treasury.
Rowan leads Climate and Resilience Hub (CRH) at WTW and Chairs the Willis Research Network. With a team of around 100 experts, the CRH aligns and mobilises the Company’s mainstream risk, capital and people businesses towards our clients’ growing climate-related requirements. Previously he served on the Board of Willis Re as CEO Global Analytics and founded the Willis Research Network of universities in 2006.
Isaac Anthony is currently the Chief Executive Officer of CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility), the world’s first multi-country risk pool providing parametric insurance to Caribbean and Central American countries. He has over twenty-five years of senior management experience spanning the areas of public finance, financial sector supervision, economic planning and disaster risk financing having held key positions with the Government of Saint Lucia including Permanent Secretary, Finance, Economic Affairs & National Development.