Global Risk and Resilience Fellowship

Building resilient cities for the future 

The Global Risk and Resilience Fellowship – a collaboration between Howden, Resilient Cities Network and the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Insurance Taskforce – empowers insurance professionals (the “fellows”) to make a tangible contribution to addressing urban climate challenges. By collaborating with city leaders worldwide, fellows help bridge resilience gaps using their expertise to unlock innovative risk management and financing solutions.

Established at COP26 in November 2021, the Fellowship aims to drive tangible progress in enhancing urban resilience. Through placements in city leadership teams, fellows address real-world challenges - from reducing flood risks to advancing net-zero initiatives.

The Fellowship’s impact extends across a global network of cities, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and expertise to promote a more secure, equitable, and sustainable urban future.

How the Fellowship operates

Prioritising local interests and expertise

Each year, the Fellowship works with a group of member cities from Resilient Cities Network to explore the role of insurance for addressing a unique urban resilience challenge in each city.

Cities apply to receive a fellow by identifying an urban resilience shock or stress, and articulating how they think insurance market tools and expertise can contribute to addressing it.

In this way, local understanding of each city’s unique context is the basis for the collaboration, and together, the fellows, local leaders, communities, and partners from the private sector work to address the need articulated by each city.

Collaboration for resilience

Each Fellowship project runs for between 3-6 months. During this time, the insurance fellows work closely with the Chief Resilience Officers (CROs) of each city, as well as other government stakeholders, to explore the role of insurance expertise for advancing urban resilience.

Fellowship project teams also collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders from the wider private sector (e.g. banking and the built environment).

Practical action and long-term impact

The partnership between fellows and city leaders aims to result in tailored solutions that strengthen the city’s ability to manage climate-related shocks and stresses.

By embedding insurance professionals within city leadership, the Fellowship accelerates the development of effective, insurance-driven solutions to urban resilience challenges.