The following article has been provided by Dame Susan Langley (pictured), Lady Mayor of the City of London
There has never been a more important moment to talk about risk: where it lies, how it evolves, and how we respond to it. Few understand that better than the readers of Insurance Business.
Today, governments and businesses are no longer confronting isolated shocks. Instead, they face an increasingly interconnected web of risks: geopolitical conflict, cyber threats, economic volatility, climate pressures, fragile supply chains, regulatory change, and rapid technological disruption. Each compounds the next in ways that are often unpredictable, amplifying exposure and challenging resilience.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is a clear example of that complex challenge: not only a threat to geopolitical stability, but to energy security, supply chains and global travel. None of us can navigate these tensions alone. Not one nation, not one economy, not one business. The future of risk mitigation will not be built in isolation. It will be built through partnerships grounded in expertise, shared interests, and collective action.
London has long been the global centre for specialist risk transfer. The London Market is home of insurance innovation. While these shocks in the Middle East and elsewhere are alarming, the London Market is not deterred in offering products, to meet the needs of those impacted. As the Ukraine war pressed on in 2023, the London Market collaborated to set up the Ukraine grain corridor for trapped vessels in the Black Sea, providing affordable war risk insurance to shipowners. London’s resilience is founded on its expertise. Within London’s Square Mile, an extraordinary concentration of talent and capital has created a distinctive competitive edge - driving innovation and decisive response to risks as varied as flood, trade disruption, cyber-attack, war, and political violence. Whatever the challenge, London has helped the world manage any associated risks and will continue to do so.
Yet for all this strength, we have never quite created a single forum that brings the whole ecosystem together - customers, underwriters, brokers, capital providers, policymakers, and business leaders - to openly debate the changing risk landscape and learn from one another.
That is about to change.
On May 12, 2026, London will become the epicentre of global risk dialogue as we host the inaugural Global Risk Summit. This landmark event will convene senior leaders from across industry and Government to share their perspectives on the risks shaping today’s world.
Sessions will focus on four critical themes: artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, geopolitics, and climate risk. All areas of growing significance for resilience, competitiveness, and economic security. Across each theme, there will be a strong emphasis on how technology, talent, and supply chain pressures are reshaping our collective future.
Leaders across risk management including Andrew McDougall, Barclays group head of geopolitical risk, Perry Thomas CEO of Flood Re and others in industry and Government will share how robust and innovative preparedness can tackle the challenges we meet today across AI, climate change, natural catastrophe and cyber.
The Summit will also create valuable opportunities for informal conversations and relationship building between those facing emerging risks and those working at the forefront of risk transfer. Connections that are often just as important as the formal discussions on stage.
The global insurance market contributes around 40% of London’s GDP and is, in my view, one of the great strengths of the UK economy that we do not celebrate loudly enough. That is why the City of London Corporation is proud to convene this event.
The Global Risk Summit will serve as the centrepiece of London Risk Week. Powered by the London Market Group, the week will bring together business leaders, risk managers, re/insurers, brokers, and the wider market ecosystem for seminars, events, and discussions that showcase London at its very best.
While attendance is by invitation only, expressions of interest are welcome via https://www.theglobalcity.uk/global-risk-summit.
