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Risk in Context Podcast: Advancing climate risk adaptation, resilience, and financing after COP30

Explore key takeaways from COP30 and the implications and opportunities for risk managers navigating the complex challenges of climate adaptation and resilience.

02/12/2025 · 2 minute read

As climate risks continue to increase in complexity, there is an urgent need to address their impacts through a strong focus on adaptation and resilience. At the same time, innovative insurance products and financing are coming to the fore to make climate and resilience investments more accessible and viable.

COP30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Belém, Brazil, served as a crucial platform for advancing global climate action amid growing environmental and stakeholder challenges. It underscored the importance of accelerating adaptation and resilience efforts, given recognition of climate change as a present reality demanding immediate solutions.

In this episode of Risk in Context, Graeme Riddell, Marsh’s Climate & Sustainability Consulting Leader for Asia, speaks with Nick Faull, the Head of Climate & Sustainability Risk at Marsh, Swenja Surminski, Managing Director, Climate & Sustainability at Marsh McLennan, and Rodrigo Suárez, Climate & Sustainability Leader, Latin America at Marsh. They discuss key takeaways from COP30, focusing on the implications and opportunities for risk managers navigating the complex challenges of climate adaptation and resilience.

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Key takeaways

Climate adaptation and resilience remain essential priorities

Climate-related impacts, including more frequent and severe extreme weather events, necessitate that organisations and governments prioritise adaptation and resilience efforts to protect assets, supply chains, and communities from evolving challenges.

Nature-based solutions are critical for climate mitigation efforts

Integrating biodiversity preservation with climate transition strategies through innovative insurance products and collaborative financial approaches is essential to building resilient economies and ecosystems in the face of accelerating climate change.

Insurance and collaboration are vital to managing climate risks

Effective climate risk management demands integrated approaches that combine data, finance, and policy across geographies and industries to build resilience, while innovative insurance solutions can make risk transfer more viable and affordable.

About our speakers

Dr. Graeme Riddell

Dr. Graeme Riddell

Climate & Sustainability Consulting Leader, Asia, Marsh

  • Singapore

Graeme Riddell leads climate and sustainability consulting across Asia. He works with companies across the region to analyse and prepare for the risks emerging from their sustainability transformation and create more resilient assets, value chains, and strategies. He has extensive experience working with public and private sectors. He has consulted on climate risks for all levels of government, from municipal to international organisations, as well as with infrastructure operators and investors, and financial services firms.

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Nick Faull

Head of Climate & Sustainability Risk, Marsh

  • United Kingdom

Nick Faull is the Head of Climate & Sustainability Risk at Marsh where he helps develop Marsh’s global sustainability and climate services — including risk modelling and management — to support clients as they transition towards net zero carbon emissions. He was previously Head of Strategic Risk Consulting at Marsh in the UK, as part of which he led the rollout of Marsh’s climate proposition to clients. Prior to this, he spent nine years with Oliver Wyman consulting to financial services firms on a range of risk-related issues. He combines extensive consulting experience with a strong background in climate having completed a DPhil in climate change modelling at Oxford University.

Swenja Surminski

Swenja Surminski

Managing Director of Climate & Sustainability

  • United Kingdom

Swenja Surminski is Managing Director of Climate & Sustainability at Marsh McLennan and chairs the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative. She is a Professor at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and has been appointed by the UK government to the UK Climate Change Committee, an independent statutory body that advises the UK government on emissions targets and on adapting to the impacts of climate change. She was a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has written several books and articles on climate risk management.

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Rodrigo Suárez

Climate & Sustainability Leader, Latin America

  • Colombia

Rodrigo Suárez leads Marsh’s Climate & Sustainability Consulting team in Latin America, coordinating regional risk transfer solutions like carbon and biodiversity credit insurance. Based in Colombia, he helps organisations address diverse environmental risks. Before joining Marsh, he was General Director of Colombia’s National Environmental Licensing Authority. He developed Colombia’s climate change policy, shaped its climate legislation, led the technical team for the Paris Agreement position, and contributed to structuring the country’s carbon tax and carbon neutrality process, foundational for Colombia’s carbon market development.

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