Climate Risk and Resilience

Climate risk is business risk

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De-risking the climate response

Climate change will shape the future of your business.

For some, technological revolution will prove a bankable opportunity. For others, climate risk is an existential threat. Every organisation needs a plan. 

Our Climate Risk & Resilience team combines business strategy, risk management, financial markets and climate science expertise.

We'll help you thrive in the next new normal. 

Work with us to: 

  1. Assess threats and risk management options
  2. Spot opportunities to adapt and prosper 
  3. Unlock funding and lower your cost of capital 
  4. Keep up with climate regulation 
  5. Make a robust plan, de-risked with insurance.
We help you make sense of what your business needs to do today in order to thrive tomorrow.

World-class problem solvers

The Climate Risk and Resilience team sits at the very heart of Howden, as part of our concerted effort to ensure all of our clients are properly protected and prepared.

We’re a team of over 60 world-class experts, based in the UK, Europe, Asia, North and South America.

We bring you specialists in climate science, insurance and the financial markets, with a blend of backgrounds including the private and public sectors, academia and humanitarian organisations.  

This depth and breadth of expertise is a strong driver of innovation, allowing us to design and deliver effective solutions.

We'll help you understand your climate risks, build resilience, and use insurance solutions to de-risk your future. 

We have a track record of delivering world-first solutions. We’ve created risk transfer products that didn’t exist before, using out-of-the-box thinking for our clients 

Marine hydropower turbine

What we're doing

Just a few examples of how we're using insurance to support the climate response.

Accelerating the transition to net zero with risk transfer solutions

Our combined insurance, financial markets and climate expertise means we’re uniquely positioned to develop innovative risk transfer solutions.

Our insurance and capital solutions de-risk projects, lowering the cost of capital and helping projects achieve debt and equity financing, to accelerate the transition to a net zero future.

Our risk solutions focus on four key core areas:

  1. Financing the Energy Transition
  2. Adapting to increasingly volatile weather
  3. Securing the Carbon Markets
  4. Protecting food systems and biodiversity

As well as bespoke solutions for individual clients, we have developed groundbreaking, market-making climate risk products.

To date, these include an insurance solution to address leakage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities, as well as groundbreaking products for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).

Thermal energy plant
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Innovative solutions for vulnerable communities

Howden's Caroline Birch explains how we're creating new solutions to support those most affected by climate change.

Enabling financial protection for those most affected

We are committed to finding scalable ways to empower communities disproportionately affected by climate change to be better financially prepared for the future.

Experience shows that building resilience in these communities is one of the surest ways to limit the devastating impacts of climate-induced disasters and support recovery.

Supporting urban resilience planning

Focused on embedding insurance expertise at the heart of city resilience,  the Global Risk and Resilience Fellowship (GRRF) is a joint initiative with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). 

It brings together city leaders with a deep understanding of urban resilience challenges and those with the expertise and resources to overcome those challenges. The objective being to collaboratively develop solutions that empower cities to build a safe, equitable and sustainable future for all.

As part of the Fellowship, Howden created the first-of-its-kind top talent secondment programme. placing five insurance professionals into five cities’ leadership teams for three to six months each. The programme is in its second year.

Read the GRRF's 2023  report

A solution to the challenge of Loss and Damage

Loss and Damage (L&D) encompasses the negative impacts of climate change that occur despite efforts to mitigate and adapt. We believe that the private sector has a vital part to play in the global response to the challenge. ​

In 2023 we contributed to a report by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, offering a compelling action plan.

The proposed solution uses the power of insurance and capital markets to dramatically scale up the impact of L&D funding, showing that millions of dollars of premium could be transformed into billions of dollars of financial protection for vulnerable countries across the Global South.

Group CEO David Howden spoke about the action plan at COP28. Watch the video 

Mauritius coast overhead shot

Insurance as a force for good

We believe that insurance is more than just a financial product; it is a force for good, capable of effecting positive change in people’s lives, the environment, the economy and the world at large.

At its core, insurance is a powerful and resilient tool that can amplify giving and offers peace of mind by mitigating risks.

We recognise that the private sector has long been absent from climate issues, at Howden, we are on a mission to make this absence a thing of the past.

Rowan Douglas, CEO of Climate Risk and Resilience, delivered a keynote at COP28 on the enabling role of insurance to give confidence, unlock the flow of capital and ultimately ensure a resilient future for all.

Find out more about Howden at COP28.

Thames Barrier lit up at night

More from the Climate Risk & Resilience team

Meet the team

Photo of Rowan Douglas

Rowan

Rowan Douglas

CEO, Climate Risk and Resilience
Photo of Charlie Langdale

Charlie

Charlie Langdale

Chair of Climate Risk and Resilience
Photo of Isabelle Cadignan

Isabelle

Isabelle Cadignan

Chief Commercial Officer, Climate Risk & Resilience
Photo of Anthony Hobley

Anthony

Anthony Hobley

Deputy Chair, Climate Risk and Resilience
Photo of Andy Cox

Andy

Andy Cox

Head of Energy Transition
Photo of Anthony Rooke

Anthony

Anthony Rooke

Executive Director of Climate Transition
Photo of Charlie Lawson

Charlie

Charlie Lawson

Head of Climate Risk and Resilience Markets
Photo of Charlie Pool

Charlie

Charlie Pool

Head of Carbon Insurance
Photo of Daniela Bergs

Daniela

Daniela Bergs

Director of Environmental Liability
Photo of Daniel Fairweather

Daniel

Daniel Fairweather

Head of Food Security Systems and Biodiversity
Photo of Marc Lehmann

Marc

Marc Lehmann

Head of Physical Risks
Photo of Matthew Foote

Matthew

Matthew Foote

Executive Director of Risk Intelligence and Analytics
Photo of Nadine Coudel

Nadine

Nadine Coudel

Head of Climate Liability

Ready when you are

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What to do if you are experiencing financial difficulties

We recognise that the current economic conditions are putting pressure on many households and businesses. At Howden, we are committed to finding ways to assist our customers who may require additional support during these times.

If you’re currently facing financial difficulty, please speak to us about your insurance policies by:-

-contacting your Howden Service Team; 
-calling Howden on 020 7623 3806;
-using the Enquiry form.