Industry leaders are calling on insurers to expand their focus beyond climate risk and adopt a broader, system-wide approach to resilience, following a panel discussion at Insurtech Insights Europe 2026 in London this week.
The session, moderated by Christoph Nabholz, CEO of RiskInsight Consulting GmbH and former chief research and sustainability officer at Swiss Re, brought together senior sustainability leaders from across the industry, including Linda Freiner, chief sustainability officer at Zurich Insurance; Lucia Silva, group chief sustainability officer at Generali; Rowan Douglas, senior advisor and former CEO of Climate Risk & Resilience at Howden; and Marco Iriarte Somolinos, global head of sustainability at Solera.
“For a long time, when we talked about sustainability, we mostly meant climate,” Nabholz said. “That work is essential, but it’s not the whole story… it’s also about the stability of our societies.”
Freiner said insurers are increasingly confronting risks that no longer fit into traditional categories. “The risks shaping economies today can no longer be neatly categorized as environmental, social, economic, or technological,” she said. “They are connected and amplifying each other.”
The interconnected risk landscape is driving a move toward resilience-focused strategies, in which insurers aim not just to cover losses but also to help prevent them and strengthen systems overall. Zurich is applying this thinking across its operations, including large-scale risk assessments spanning climate, supply chain, and cyber exposures.
“Exposures can be reduced through small, targeted actions,” she said. “Improving drainage or roof systems, or diversifying supply chains, makes a real difference. Prevention is the core enabler of insurability.”
She added that resilience also extends to individuals, noting that a single shock can have long-term consequences without adequate protection.
Meanwhile, Silva reinforced that while the industry is broadening its lens, climate risk remains central. Generali is placing particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which Silva described as critical to economic resilience. “If you help SMEs prevent risks before they happen, you strengthen society overall,” she said.
Generali is also addressing gaps in health, pension, and financial protection, particularly among underserved populations. Silva warned that awareness remains low among SMEs.
“There is a large protection gap, and many businesses do not yet fully appreciate the importance of insurance coverage. Many customers are not familiar with insurance products, even in Europe,” Silva said. “Client education is critical.”
Somolinos stressed that data will be an important tool for insurers to address these protection gaps. “The good news is that we operate in a data-rich industry. The challenge is how to unlock insights and use that data effectively to support resilience,” he said.
“What we observe is that companies are revisiting their key performance indicators and querying their data in new ways. This allows them to improve decision-making and deliver better products and services.”
Douglas highlighted the fundamental role insurance plays in supporting economies and enabling risk-taking. He pointed to the sector’s unique ability to quantify and model risk as a key strength.
Using agricultural risk as an example, he noted that current systems place an unsustainable burden on farmers. “We worked with the European Commission to assess climate risks to crop yields using insurance modeling techniques. Currently, average losses are about six percent per year, rising to over ten percent in bad years,” Douglas said.
“By 2050, losses could increase by around 40 percent. Most of this risk is borne by farmers, which is unsustainable. We risk running out of farmers before we run out of food because the risk is not being shared properly.”
Despite growing complexity, the panel struck an optimistic tone about the industry’s ability to lead.
“Behind every risk there is an opportunity, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this industry,” Freiner said. “The challenge is that risks are becoming more complex and interconnected, which makes them harder to explain to customers. However, the insurance industry is uniquely positioned to provide solutions that improve societal resilience.”
