IDF warns of climate shocks and other risks
The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) has published its 2025 Annual Review. Marking 10 years of action to close global protection gaps, it issues a clear call to accelerate progress as climate shocks, fiscal pressure and systemic risk intensify worldwide.
With almost 120 member and partner organisations, the IDF now has 45 projects active across 32 countries, supported by more than 200 technical experts worldwide. These are delivered through specialist Working Groups and Task Forces working in six areas: Law, Regulation & Resilience Policies; Risk Modelling; Disaster Risk Reduction; Sovereign & Humanitarian Solutions; Inclusive Insurance; and Infrastructure.
In 2025 alone, IDF-supported programmes helped extend financial protection to more than 4 million people and mobilised $340 million for resilient infrastructure investment. It has secured more than $8.5 million to date in sovereign risk modelling support for climate-vulnerable economies. In parallel, the IDF contributed technical expertise and industry insight to critical global policy and regulatory discussions, including engagements with G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, helping to shape the global resilience and development finance agenda.
Founded in 2015, the IDF was created to bring the solutions and capabilities of the global insurance industry into development, humanitarian and climate resilience efforts. Not only to respond after disasters, but to build risk understanding, resilience and preparedness before a crisis strikes.
The IDF_2025 Annual_Review documents how the Forum has evolved from an ambitious public–private partnership idea into a delivery platform operating on a global level. Enabling greater access to risk understanding, adaptation through risk reduction, risk transfer, regulatory and policy insights, and resilience infrastructure, to ensure countries are equipped to anticipate, absorb and recover from natural disaster shocks. Mobilising capital, insurance expertise, and risk management capabilities to help build future-ready nations.
Michel Liès, chair of the IDF Steering Committee and chairman of Zurich Insurance Group, said: “This year marks a turning point. Over the past decade, the IDF has moved from dialogue to delivery, building a community of governments, insurers, development institutions and practitioners who are actively translating risk insights into action on the ground. Thanks to the concerted efforts of these institutions, the foundations are now firmly in place to build future ready nations. The responsibility ahead is to scale at speed, strengthening sovereign and sub-sovereign risk financing, facilitating deeper investment in risk reduction and adaptation, and mobilising industry leadership and capital with unprecedented ambition to match the urgency of the risks facing the world.”
Ivo Menzinger, chair of the IDF Operating Committee, said: “The IDF initial bold proposition is now proven: insurance is central to global resilience and development finance. This progress has been driven by the IDF’s public, private and multilateral members and partners who have shown up as true change agents – committing expertise, capital, and time to turn the IDF ambition into delivery. A wonderful reason to celebrate the IDF’s 10-year anniversary.”
Ekhosuehi Iyahen, secretary general of the IDF, added: “The next decade must focus on scaling what works, for greater impact. Together, we must make choices to ensure that resilience becomes a durable foundation for sustainable development and shared prosperity.”
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