At the COP Singapore Pavilion panel on Finance Day on 14 November, Benedikt Signer, Executive Director and Board Director of SEADRIF Insurance Company, joined Kavitha Menon, Director of the Singapore Sustainable Finance Association, and fellow guest speakers Amanpreet Singh from MUFG, Anthony Hobley from Howden, and Emily Woodland from BlackRock. They discussed how the ecosystem for risk and investment can come together to address climate finance in innovative ways. This is particularly pertinent for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), which offer tremendous opportunities for insurance to come in, bringing projects within the risk thresholds of more investors.
The session concluded that risk mitigation and insurance are key enablers in climate projects. Taking a risk-centric approach and integrating risk mitigation and insurance upfront and early in the project development process is essential. Moreover, insurers can bring their unique perspectives to benefit climate projects in various ways. Additionally, building a shared understanding of the ecosystem is critical. Investors and insurers often use different "languages" and have different perspectives on risk and return that will need further alignment.
