WTW launches climate risk centre in Singapore

WTW launches climate risk centre in Singapore | Insurance Business Australia

Environmental

WTW launches climate risk centre in Singapore

This is to aid the Asia-Pacific region in transitioning to a resilient and low-carbon economy

Environmental

By
Abigail Adriatico

WTW has announced the launch of its Asia-Pacific Climate Risk Centre (ACRC) in Singapore as part of its commitment to help the region in transitioning to a more resilient and low-carbon economy.

“I welcome the launch of the WTW APAC Climate Risk Centre in Singapore,” said Lawrence Wong, deputy prime minister and minister for finance of Singapore and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). “This centre will develop risk advisory, analytics and risk financing solutions to support transition efforts of firms in hard-to-abate industrial sectors key for Asia’s growth, such as real estate, transportation and natural resources.”

The ACRC will be supporting corporate, financial institutions, insurers, and governments in understanding, quantifying, and building resilience against climate risks through the utilisation of WTW’s risk management and risk financing.

“Risk is integral to everything we do at WTW. We model, price, and allocate capital against climate risks in the capital and risk markets. Our analytics are market-tested and end-to-end, providing companies with confidence in our approach,” said Christopher Au, director and lead of ACRC at WTW.

The centre will focus on physical and transition climate risk assessment as well as quantification through top-down and bottom-up methods and propriety models.

“The establishment of WTW’s ACRC moves us towards the next phase of growth in the region as we build on our extensive experience in climate risk mitigation and management,” said Carl Hess, chief executive officer at WTW.

Hess said that Singapore’s role as an important hub in the region’s pursuit of a low-carbon economy through its policies in green finance and insurance as well as its well-established insurance market made it a preferable choice for the establishment of the ACRC.

Simon Weaver, the head of Asia-Pacific and head of corporate risk and broking, Asia-Pacific, said that the Asia-Pacific region was on the frontline with regards to the effects of climate change.

“Natural catastrophes are already intense and frequent, whilst economic growth and population development mean the region will account for more than 70% of the expected growth in global energy demand over the coming years,” Weaver said. “Climate risk quantification and management, delivered through WTW’s ACRC, is another step forward in delivering on our commitment to offer clients a smarter way to quantify, mitigate and transfer risk.”

Over the next three years, the ACRC will be staffed with a team consisting of 15 climate specialists that will support clients within the APAC region.

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