“Climate” just isn’t a preferred phrase in Washington, D.C., right this moment, so it will take a sure audacity to carry an occasion whose title prominently consists of it within the coronary heart of the U.S. Capitol.
And that’s precisely what ClimateTech Connect did final week.
For two days, professional panels on the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center mentioned climate-related dangers – from flood, wind, and wildfire to excessive warmth and chilly – and the position of know-how in mitigating and constructing resilience in opposition to them. Given the human and monetary prices related to local weather dangers, it was acceptable to see the property/casualty insurance coverage trade strongly represented.
Peter Miller, CEO of The Institutes, was available to speak concerning the transformative energy of AI for insurers, and Triple-I President and CEO Sean Kevelighan mentioned – amongst different issues – the collaborative work his group and its insurance coverage trade members are doing in partnership with governments, non-profits, and others to advertise funding in local weather resilience. Triple-I is an affiliate of the Institutes.
You can get an concept of the scope and depth of those panels by trying on the agenda, which included titles like:
- Building Climate-Resilient Futures: Innovations in Insurance, Finance, and Real Estate;
- Fire, Flood, and Wind: Harnessing the Power of Advanced Data-Driven Technology for Climate Resilience;
- The Role of Technology and Innovation to Advance Climate Resilience Across our Cities, States and Communities;
- Pioneers of Parametric: Navigating Risks with Parametric Insurance Innovations;
- Climate within the Crosshairs: How Reinsurers and Investors are Redefining Risk; and
- Safeguarding Tomorrow: The Regulator’s Role in Climate Resilience.
As anticipated, the panels and “fireside chats” went deep into the position of know-how; however the significance of partnership, collaboration, and funding throughout stakeholder teams was a dominant theme for all individuals. Coming because the Trump Administration takes such steps as eliminating FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program; slashing budgets of federal entities just like the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS); and revoking FEMA funding for communities nonetheless recovering from final 12 months’s devastation from Hurricane Helene, these discussions have been, to say the least, well timed.
In addition to the panels, the occasion featured a sequence of “Shark Tank”-style shows by Insurtechs that bought to pitch their services to the viewers of roughly 500 attendees. A Triple-I member – Norway-based 7Analytics, a supplier of granular flood and landslide information – received the competitors.
Earth Day 2025 is an efficient time to acknowledge organizations which might be working exhausting and investing in climate-risk mitigation and resilience – and to recommit to those efforts for the approaching years. What higher place to take action than strolling distance from each the White House and the Capitol?
Learn More:
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