Webinar On-Demand | Adapting to a changing climate in the management of wildfires in Continental Europe

Opening remarks

Antonio Gomes, Deputy Director, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD

This session will introduce the topic of why climate change is such a challenge for financial management and will outline emerging protection gaps and specifically refer to the need for action around wildfire in the context of it being under-insured relative to other risks.

Wildfire and climate change: What is – or will be – the new normal in wildfires in Continental Europe? 

Dr. Jessica Turner, Managing Director Catastrophe Advisory, Guy Carpenter 

An outlook for wildfire risk in the context of climate change and urban expansions into fire-prone wildlands. This session addresses the evolving threat posed by wildfire across Europe, in part due to climate change, and highlights the requirement for a data-driven approach to adequately assess current and future exposures. Guy Carpenter’s Wildfire Risk Score helps identify areas of high risk accumulation and areas of future risk to aid in preparation and response in Continental Europe. It also outlines the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

Panel discussion: Aligning public policy to effectively manage wildfires 

Chair: Xavier Leflaive, Principal Administrator, Environment Directorate, OECD

Panellists:
João Carlos Verde, Advisor to the Board of the Portuguese Agency for Wildland Fire Integrated Management
Tatu Tornianen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland
Kilian Heil, Officer, Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism

Extreme wildfires have a significant economic impact, which, beyond the direct damage to homes and commercial structures, includes significant business interruption and wider knock-on effects. A solid understanding of costs is needed to make the economic case for investing in proactive policy responses, especially when countries are in the midst of paying the high costs of response and recovery. This session outlines the key public policy challenges for effective management of wildfire risk, it highlights regulatory system solutions to address climate change concerns, and outlines a roadmap for what steps need to be implemented nationally and internationally to align public policy to support the management of wildfire risk. Representatives from Portugal, Finland and Austria will participate in this session and share insights into local considerations on this topic.

Panel discussion: Lessons learnt – The potential for natural resiliency measures to reduce wildfire risk 

Chair: Jonathan Clark, Head of Public Sector North America, Guy Carpenter

Panellists: 
Sydney Chamberlin, Climate Policy Associate, The Nature Conservancy
Andy Elliott, Consultant and Trainer, WildfireTac; Senior Research Fellow in Wildfire, University of Exeter; National Wildfire Tactical Advisor, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, UK
António Patrão, Sub-Regional Fire Management Head, Portugal
Francisco Senra Rivero, Head of Area, Environment and Water Agency of Andalucía (AMAYA), Spain
Rob Gazzard, Advisor, Contingency Planning and Wildfire, Forestry Commission, UK

This session discusses the effectiveness of natural land uses like buffer areas in managing wildfire risk and in helping communities facing wildfire challenges. It will focus on lessons learnt from Paradise California alongside other ecological forestry perspectives from The Nature Conservancy, in the European context. The session will consider the role nature can play in strengthening resilience; the enabling conditions in Paradise, which allowed for the integration of natural resiliency measures alongside how these measures will be leveraged moving forwards.  

Break

Panel discussion: Innovations in wildfire mapping, detection and machine learning applications

Chair: Matthew Eagle, Head of Global Model Solutions and Advisory, Guy Carpenter

Panellists: 
Alejandro Marti, CEO, Mitiga Solutions 
Dave Fox, CEO, Geospatial Insight
Andrew Engler, CEO, Kettle Re 
Shanna McIntyre, Founder and Chief Data Officer, Delos

This session discusses the intersection of wildfire risk and technology. The discussion will explore innovative tools and strategies that can be used to improve wildfire mapping, detection, assessment and mitigation, as well as explain how machine learning can help more accurately predict and price wildfire risk.

Panel discussion: (Re)insurer perspectives - Effective risk transfer mechanisms for wildfire management 

Chair: Charles Whitmore, President Global Accounts, Guy Carpenter 

Panellists:
Guillermo Franco, Managing Director & Global Head of Cat Risk Research, Guy Carpenter
Dr. Jaesung Park, Head of Research, Nephila Capital 
Amaury Dufetel, Head of Parametric Insurance, AXA 
José Leão, Head of Reinsurance, Ageas Portugal
Fahri Altıngöz, Assistant General Manager, Aksigorta Turkey

This session invites leaders from the (re)insurance marketplace to share perspectives on understanding wildfire risk and developing product solutions, alongside commenting on the availability of reinsurance capacity. A changing wildfire risk could have a number of implications on the need to finance wildfire management measures and the availability of financial protection/insurance, including how governments can use insurance to manage the increasing cost of responding to wildfires. The session aims at identifying needs for action to enable effective financing and risk transfer mechanisms.

Closing address – Next steps: managing wildfire in the context of a changing climate 

Modris Stasuls, Deputy Head of Prevention and Disaster Risk Management, Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), European Commission

Closing comments

Ruth Lux, Head of Public Sector, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Guy Carpenter