Breakout Session

Featuring Peter Tufano, Harvard Business School; Dave Jones, Climate Risk Initiative; Barney Schauble, greenthread; and Ishita Sen, Harvard Business School

As climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of natural disasters, it is reshaping one of the world’s most vital yet often overlooked sectors: insurance. Once defined by actuarial tables and historical loss data, the global insurance industry is now on the frontlines of an unpredictable future—where past patterns no longer guarantee future protection.
This session will explore how insurers, reinsurers, regulators, and financial innovators are responding to climate risk across geographies. What new models are emerging to cover losses from extreme weather, sea-level rise, and climate migration? How are insurance markets evolving to incentivize resilience, adaptation, and mitigation? And how can insurance—public and private—serve as both a buffer against shocks and a catalyst for long-term climate solutions?
Join us for a deep dive into the tensions and opportunities facing the insurance industry in a warming world, and why rethinking risk is central to financing a just and resilient future.