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Resilience projects show insurance benefits, challenges remain - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Resilience projects show insurance benefits, challenges remain by Gavin Souter From left: Amy Berry, Deborah Glaser and Michael Donatti. Agents and Brokers , Asbestos & Environmental , Catastrophes Marsh Sep 23, 2026 NEW YORK – Efforts to make properties and communities more resilient to natural catastrophes and climate-related risks are beginning to deliver measurable insurance benefits, but projects remain fragmented and require broader involvement from property owners, insurers and governments, experts say. Wildfire mitigation programs in California have reduced insurance costs in some communities, while data center developers are being urged to invest in local power and water resilience as community opposition threatens projects. Insurers and property owners still struggle to measure and recognize many risk reductions, they said Wednesday during a panel sponsored by Marsh during Climate Week NYC, as the brokerage and the World Economic Forum launched a climate resilience and insurability playbook. The playbook outlines ways insurers, asset owners, governments and other organizations can collaborate on resilience, including sharing risk data, financing projects and developing common methods to measure their benefits. Data centers illustrate the need for commercial property owners to look beyond the resilience of individual assets, said Michael Donatti, San Francisco-based principal at Oliver Wyman. Local opposition delayed or blocked data center projects valued at about $130 billion in the first quarter and another $68 billion in the second, according to Data Center Watch. Concerns about power and water use, noise and other issues can create permitting problems and potentially threaten data centers’ ability to operate over the long term, Mr. Donatti said. Data centers are typically designed to withstand catastrophes because even brief business interruptions can cause significant losses, but operators often address vulnerabilities in power and other infrastructure at the facility level rather than across surrounding communities, he said. “There needs to be a shift from developers coming in and viewing community opposition, energy and connection to the power grid, and water challenges as a risk to manage, and really becoming investors in the resilience of a place,” Mr. Donatti said. Wildfire mitigation projects in California show how resilience measures can reduce risk and potentially improve insurance availability. The Nature Conservancy worked with the Tahoe Donner community and other organizations to develop a wildfire resilience parametric insurance program that sought to quantify the benefits of forest management undertaken around the community, said Deborah Glaser, Los Angeles-based project director for disaster resilience at the conservation organization. The work resulted in a 39% reduction in premiums and an 84% reduction in deductibles, she said. “We’ve shown that underwriters are willing to incorporate this into the models, and insurers are willing to price against that,” Ms. Glaser said. “So that’s where we are now: thinking about scale.” Other work around Lake Tahoe combines forest management outside communities with vegetation reduction within neighborhoods and measures to make individual homes more resistant to wildfire, said Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund. The approach uses technology to identify which mitigation measures will most effectively reduce risk rather than relying on “random acts of mitigation,” she said. Six pilot projects are underway in the Tahoe region. One obstacle is that catastrophe models do not always capture resilience measures, making it difficult for insurers and reinsurers to quantify the resulting risk reduction, panelists said. Property owners should play a larger role in financing and advocating for resilience projects, particularly where risks cannot be addressed at the individual-property level, said Amy Barnes, London-based head of energy and power, head of climate and sustainability strategy for Marsh Risk. For risks such as river flooding, an owner with significant exposure could serve as an anchor investor, bringing other businesses and organizations that benefit from the project into the financing structure, she said. Coastal protection will likely remain more dependent on government investment. “There isn’t enough money in the public sector to fund all the adaptation measures that we need,” Ms. Barnes said. Businesses also need to make a stronger economic case for resilience, including the value of avoiding business interruption and disruption to communities and supply chains, she said. 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