NEW YORK, September 23, 2026 — Marsh (NYSE: MRSH), a leading global professional services firm, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, today launched a playbook to help cross-sector coalitions strengthen place-based resilience and improve insurability. Launched at New York Climate Week 2026, the playbook outlines how to coordinate risk management beyond individual assets by focusing on the shared systems that protect communities and locations.
Global insured natural catastrophe losses reached $145 billion in 2025, with tangible impacts across the economy, from households to capital markets. Declining property values and increased individual financial exposure are creating mounting macroeconomic and political risks—an economic, humanitarian, and social issue that affects lives and livelihoods.
The playbook argues that the availability of adequate, affordable insurance coverage increasingly depends on the resilience of entire places, not just individual assets. However, investing at this level creates a collective-action challenge: measures such as stormwater drainage, natural flood defenses, and wildfire buffers benefit many stakeholders—including property owners and managers, local governments, lenders, insurers, and community organisations—while costs may fall to only a few. No single actor has sufficient incentive or capacity to act alone, making coordination across the property value chain essential.
The playbook proposes four priority interventions for coalitions and provides case studies for each: better risk and decision data to build a shared, decision-ready view of place-based risk; innovative financing structures that pool resources from multiple beneficiaries; standardised metrics that enable insurers and investors to consistently recognise and price resilience; and a stronger business case for resilience by aligning incentives and capturing co-benefits.
Commenting on the report, Amy Barnes, Head of Climate and Sustainability Strategy and Global Head of Energy & Power, Marsh Risk, said: “This playbook is a call to action. We know that place-based resilience works. What we need is for place-based interventions to be tested, scaled, and owned by coalitions. Insurability concerns are a signal that our risk management is insufficient. By working together across government, business, investors, and communities, we can address the collective-action challenge and build resilience that protects not just individual properties, but entire places and economies.”
Eric White, Head of Climate Resilience at the World Economic Forum, added: “Recent weather disasters have given many businesses and governments a wake-up call. We need to act more aggressively to build resilience. This playbook shows us how.”
Marsh (NYSE: MRSH) is a global leader in risk, reinsurance and capital, people and investments, and management consulting, advising clients in 130 countries. With annual revenue of $27 billion and more than 95,000 colleagues, Marsh helps build the confidence to thrive through the power of perspective. For more information, visit marsh.com, or follow us on LinkedIn and X.
US & Canada Media Relations Leader, Marsh Risk & Marsh Re
