Insurance for nature - nature for insurance (NATURANCE)

Our ambition is not only to produce a comprehensive and collaborative assessment of nature-based insurance and investment solutions from societal and business perspective: our ultimate goal is to encourage adoption of jointly elaborated equity principles, performance metrics and recommended approaches to analysis and design, in accordance with the EU framework for sustainable finance and the Just Transition Mechanism. To this end we will stimulate dialogues, knowledge sharing and mutual learning across different areas of policy and practice.

The IIASA NATURANCE team from the Equity and Justice (EQU) Research Group in the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) Program is leading Work Package 3 which will analyse governance, policy and market/business enablers and barriers of innovative and equitable nature-based insurance and investment solutions and identify good practice and policy reforms for unlocking the business potential of NbS and scaling up. The NATURANCE project builds on the PHUSICOS project, an Innovation Action project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program.

Objectives

The main objective of the NATURANCE project is translated into specific detailed and measurable objectives (SO) as follows:

[SO-I] Establish a ‘Network of existing networks’ by connecting existing major knowledge networks and fostering cross-domain knowledge sharing and collaborative marketplace for innovative nature-based insurance & investment solutions. We will mobilise and connect at least 20 knowledge networks (KNs) from across different thematic areas, including NbS, sustainable insurance & investments, cat modelling and risk assessment, and collaborative platforms of local & regional governments, organise 4 open and inclusive web- and festivals of nature-based insurance & investment solutions, at least 4 technical meetings, and a series of 20-24 community webinars.

[SO-II] Initiate and organise innovation finance and policy labs seeking to assess existing and explore new areas for equitable insurance & investment solutions and revenue models supporting NbS. We will initiate at least 9 innovation labs in the content of which we will work with insurers & brokers, cat modellers, NbS practitioners & advocates, and local & regional governments or action groups to explore the feasibility and potential of these solutions in real world contexts, identify and test shared design principles, and explore pathways to implementation.

[SO-III] Analyse policy and governance conditions that are conducive to or hamper adoption of sustainable and equitable innovative green insurance and investment solutions for NbS and identify examples of inspirational practice and policy reforms unlocking their business potential and scaling up their deployment. We will elaborate a series of in-depth assessments, policy briefs and a database of policy cases for NbS upscaling, principles for equitable and sustainable financing/insurance business models, transformative financial/insurance governance & policy.

[SO-IV] Analyse models, methods, scenarios and metrics used for assessing risk-reduction performance of NbS, as well as their wider societal benefits, and contribute to a better integration of ecosystem and economic risk modelling. We will produce a synthesis review of NbS performance assessments, technical specifications for integration of risk and ecosystem models, and metrics for evaluation of equitable nature-based insurance & investment solutions.

[SO-V] Build awareness and capabilities for green financial innovations, so to creating conditions for inclusive and transformative change in regions embarked in the Mission on climate adaptation & societal transformation. We will work with at least 15 regions enrolled in the HE Mission and/or NetworkNature network, helping them to review the opportunities for a regional sustainable finance reform, and develop training courses targeting their needs.

Consortium of partners

NATURANCE’s excellence relies on a strong transdisciplinary consortium of partners with wide expertise and long experience from prominent research & innovation organisations, insurance industry representatives, insurance brokers and sustainable finance experts, networks of regional and local governments, and organisations with huge experience in catalysing local and regional action. The consortium members hold extensive knowledge, skills, experience and capacity to meet the above goals.

Partners and collaborating organisations

Fondazione Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), IT

Stichting VU (VU), NL

International Institute for Ap-plied Systems Analysis (IIASA), AT

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), DE

European Secretariat GMBH (ICLEI), DE

The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University Cambridge - Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), UK

Stockholm University, Navarino Environmental Observatory (SU), SE

Willis Towers Watson, Climate and Resilience Hub (WTW), DE

Funding

The NATURANCE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) under grant agreement No. 101060464.