FERMA and WBCSD launch ‘Open Sesame’ to unlock climate resilience finance
The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have launched Open Sesame, a joint initiative to address what they say is one of the most pressing challenges facing organisations today – how to finance climate resilience in a world of rapidly escalating climate risk.
In a statement the two said the project is a ground-breaking initiative designed to unlock financing for preventative and adaptive climate measures. Bringing together representatives from risk management, insurance, sustainable finance, banking and the investment community, it aims to accelerate the development of a new finance framework that enables organisations to invest in resilience measures before climate risk related events strike.
FERMA and the WBCSD recognise that climate-driven losses are likely to outpace private insurance capacity, and that public-private partnerships are increasingly viewed as vital to sharing risk and stabilising coverage. However, current efforts to finance future natural catastrophe impacts are largely focused on post-event responses, rather than pre-event preventive measures.
The initiative was unveiled last week at the WBCSD’s Annual Meeting in Montreux, Switzerland. It is aimed at defining and structuring a dynamic, unified finance framework that will enable organisations to more easily and efficiently fund climate-related risk management and mitigation efforts, while supporting their adaptation to climate change through responsible and efficient capital raising.
Laurent Nihoul, chief executive of FERMA, said: “Expanding access to dedicated funding mechanisms for prevention and risk-mitigation measures is critical to reducing loss frequency and severity, strengthening resilience, and improving the long-term insurability of exposed assets and activities. Open Sesame is critical for corporate leaders striving to address the urgent financial challenge of climate resilience, enabling them to invest proactively to ensure their organisations are prepared and robustly positioned to manage a rapidly evolving climate.”
Fiona Watson, vice president corporate performance & accountability at WBCSD, said: “WBCSD is pleased to partner with FERMA on Open Sesame. Enabling climate resilience is not just a risk issue, but a strategic investment priority. By creating a framework that translates climate risk reduction into clear, investable outcomes we aim to bridge the gap between resilience needs and financial markets, promoting systemic resilience to increasing physical risk. Leveraging our comprehensive business network at WBCSD, we are positioned to contribute valuable global perspectives.”
Philippe Cotelle, President of FERMA said: “FERMA has been progressing this initiative over several months, and we greatly value the strong partnership we have established with WBCSD in developing this resilience financing framework. By aligning stakeholders across the financial and risk ecosystem, this joint effort supports our mission to drive coordinated solutions that strengthen organisations’ ability to withstand and adapt to climate risk.”
Alongside representatives from FERMA’s partners and WBCSD member companies, Open Sesame will bring together expertise from across the risk and finance ecosystem, including re/insurers, brokers, risk modellers, risk engineers, strategy consultants, sustainable finance specialists and professional services firms. The initiative is supported by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), acting as secretariat to the partnership.
The group will collaborate to address the critical building blocks needed to develop a climate resilience-focused finance framework. To date, experts from Allianz Commercial, Aon, FM, Howden, Marsh, PWC Italy, SCOR and Sigma7 have confirmed their participation, with additional participants expected to join soon, including WBCSD member companies that were introduced to the project at the Annual Meeting.
The initiative will focus on four key areas:
• Consistency of Climate Exposure Modelling: Aligning exposure models, standards and data inputs to ensure robust and credible risk assessment.
• Credibility of Exposure Reduction through Adaptive Measures: Establishing standardised methods to quantify how preventative actions reduce exposure to climate risk.
• Methodology for Assessing Added Value and Supporting Investment Decisions: Creating a methodology to assess the value of resilience investments and support informed capital allocation.
• Investor Attractiveness and Sustainable Finance Integration: Designing a framework that translates resilience outcomes into verifiable metrics aligned with sustainable finance and sustainability requirements.
This initial consultation phase will culminate in the publication of an interim report later in the year outlining targeted deliverables across the four workstreams, findings from the stakeholders and practical next steps for developing the climate resilience finance framework.
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