Empowering Sustainable Futures

Dec 14, 2023

Last week, I had the privilege of participating in COP28 in Dubai, along with a delegation of climate experts and leaders from across Marsh McLennan.

The meeting reinforced the need for collective action on climate change, and impressed upon me three key themes that I believe reflect where we stand—and where we may be going—on this important issue.

We can make a difference

If public and private sectors work together, we can make a difference to avoid worst-case climate scenarios. At COP, we saw an historic agreement to begin to transition away from fossil fuels, as well as the outlines of a funding mechanism to protect the world’s most vulnerable countries. Outside the official negotiations, we there were significant commitments made on decarbonization pathways, climate finance and community resilience.

From my discussions with business leaders, it appears that the private sector can demonstrate even more leadership, while also beginning to grapple with the practical yet complex challenges of moving from planning to implementation.  

It’s why Marsh McLennan partnered with the UN’s private sector climate engagement unit and a respected US think tank to issue a set of recommendations on how the insurance industry can spearhead climate adaptation. We also demonstrated how sustainable investing is overcoming barriers in emerging markets, despite the fact that asset managers continue to struggle to identify green projects in parts of the global south.

Partnerships will be essential

Climate progress will depend on successful partnerships across sectors and with non-profits and public sector agencies that business may have never worked with before.

The challenges and opportunities are complex, and no one company, country or community will solve this crisis alone. At this COP, Marsh McLennan announced our support for a new mangrove financing initiative, launched a new risk assessment initiative with Dubai’s electricity and water company, and signed on to the “Call for Collaboration” promoted by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. 

Other examples of this new spirit of partnership include initiatives like the “Buildings Breakthrough,” the “High-Integrity Carbon Markets Initiative,” and the broad endorsement of the “Playbook for Nature-Positive Infrastructure Development,” all of which reflect a new era of collective action.

Aligning capabilities to the challenge

It’s clear to me after attending this COP that neither commitment nor capital will be our greatest challenges in addressing climate. Instead, it will likely be access to new technologies to facilitate the transition, as well as the market’s ability to align our capabilities at the pace and direction that the urgency of the situation demands. Inconsistencies, gaps and uncertainties still exist in too many system-level policies and regulations, as well as within our own firms and in the markets where we compete.

To help address this, we can better deliver Marsh McLennan’s unique expertise across risk, strategy and people to help empower sustainable futures. We have deep understanding of transition planning and finance, know how to make transformative change happen, and deliver leading risk management solutions. Bringing these capabilities together in a way that matches the urgency of the moment will require dialogue—both internally and externally—and over the next months and years, I will be looking for opportunities for us to find ways to address these challenges together.  

I remain optimistic that commitment, partnership and an orientation toward impact will produce needed solutions; and that Marsh McLennan’s expertise and capabilities can help our clients, communities and partners thrive in the face of the climate challenge.

Best regards,

John Doyle

Marsh McLennan Supply Chain Capability

Climate-related impacts represent five of the top 10 risks facing businesses today according to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Risks Report. These risks have the potential to cause production delays, labor issues, lost revenue, increased costs and negative brand reputation.

Marsh McLennan is developing an innovative new capability — combining Marsh and Oliver Wyman’s risk-modeling capabilities and deep climate expertise — to help organizations become more resilient to climate risk in their supply chains. This new solution leverages a digital twin of a business’s entire supply chain combined with advanced data analytics, satellite imaging, and Marsh McLennan’s decades of risk modeling to provide clients with unique insights. The aim is to help companies “see the unseen” and make proactive investments to address climate-related risks that make businesses vulnerable.

Marsh

As the world moves toward a low-carbon future, investments in renewable energy and low-carbon technology are on the rise. These assets need to be resilient to the changing climate they will face over the course of their operational life.

During COP28, Marsh will launch a new report with the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority on how it is addressing climate adaptation of its new energy assets. Marsh will also publish a series of blogs on discussions taking place at COP28 relevant to its clients.

Guy Carpenter

Guy Carpenter innovates solutions that help the public and private sectors manage emerging risks related to climate. The company helps clients understand the changing nature of risk and how to make better risk-informed decisions.

Guy Carpenter is uniquely positioned to help clients understand which perils and regions are most at risk of the impacts of climate change. Offerings include custom views of catastrophe models and risk score tools suitable for different future time horizons and warming assumptions, presenting geographic accumulations of risk and/or underwriting strategies. Guy Carpenter helps clients quantify the impacts under potential climate scenarios on the overall volatility and tail risk of their insured portfolio.

At COP28, Guy Carpenter will build on adaptation financing thought leadership launched at COP27 to showcase a new, innovative, sustainable climate-focused solution that combines financial resilience and loss prevention.

Mercer

Mercer helps institutional investors interested in aligning their portfolios with net-zero outcomes by 2050 (or earlier) to develop and implement climate analysis and transition plans that reflect their unique requirements and goals.

A partner of the World Climate Summit at COP28, Mercer Investments will present the exclusive results of its annual Global Asset Manager Survey and thought leadership on successfully implementing climate-transition investing. A key focus is how organizations can incorporate the rapidly evolving dynamics and longer-term emerging issues around climate change, net zero and other sustainability-aligned investing challenges into fiduciary duty considerations.

To help enable the energy transition, accelerate progress to a lower-carbon world and drive green infrastructure development in Africa, Mercer will showcase the Catalytic Investment Exchange (CIX) during COP28. This new digital platform connects deal and project sponsors with investors and capital providers on green infrastructure, green and clean technology, adaptation, and biodiversity and natural capital projects. Register to attend the in-person event pilot in Dubai on 4–5 December.

Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is a leading player in helping companies make commercially smart climate transitions, from strategy and direction to finance and operations. It is also a thought leader in how to drive the transition at scale, collaborating with networks and organizations such as the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, the World Economic Forum, CDP and the Climate Group to drive collaborative action on this topic.

At COP28, Oliver Wyman will host a series of events tied to this year’s conference themes, bringing together industry leaders to explore how to transition at pace and scale while sustaining and growing a profitable business.

Dec 4-5^th - launching the Catalytic Investment Exchange (CIX) https://www.mercer.com/solutions/investments/catalytic-investment-exchange/

To help clients and investors around the world navigate the energy transition, we’re launching the Catalytic Investment Exchange (CIX). The CIX will bring together deal sponsors and direct investors and will seek to enable effective and efficient due diligence. It provides potential investors a digital due diligence review platform and provides the opportunity for investors to meet with deal sponsors at Mercer led events around the world. 

The focus is on green infrastructure, green and clean technology, biodiversity and natural capital. Our next event will be held in Dubai, on 4^th and 5^th December, during COP28. If successful, we will continue to run the online platform and provide regular opportunities for in-person connection. Register your interest by email to take part in an initiative which has the potential to drive direct investment in climate projects across emerging markets.

The Climate Action Gender Gap

08.00 – 09.30

Join Oliver Wyman and the 30% Club to explore the critical role that women are playing in driving climate action as leaders, employees, customers, and investors.

Preparing For The Health Impact Of Climate Change

15.00 – 16.00

Join Oliver Wyman and the World Economic Forum to explore how the health ecosystem can adapt to the health impact of climate change and how life sciences companies can prepare for this shift.

Enabling And Scaling Transition Finance

08.00 – 09.30

Join Oliver Wyman and the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) to explore how transition finance can be measured and scaled.  

Strategies For Industrial Decarbonization

11.00 – 12.00

Join Oliver Wyman and Masdar to explore strategies for accelerating industrial decarbonization to meet our net-zero goals. Our panel of distinguished speakers will build on real-world examples from industry leaders and pioneers.

Climate Action at Scale

15.00 – 16.00

Join Oliver Wyman and Climate Group to explore how we can move from incremental "business as usual" moves to deliver climate action at the scale and pace we need today.

Turning Gen Z’s Passion For Climate Into Action

15.00 – 16.00

Join the Oliver Wyman Forum to discuss the influential role of Gen Zers in the fight against climate change, bringing together Gen Z, policy, and industry leaders.

The Nature Opportunity

16.00 – 17.00

Join Oliver Wyman and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to discuss how corporates and financial institutions are capturing new nature-related opportunities.

From Risk to Resilience - COP28 UAE: An Update for Risk Professionals 

At the halfway point of this momentous event, Marsh would like to invite you to attend a fire side chat for risk professionals to provide an update on the outcomes of the first week at COP28 and discuss the role of risk in the transition.

Join Amy Barnes, Head of Climate and Sustainability Strategy at Marsh and Abhi Bhuchar, Partner, Energy and Natural Resources Practice at Oliver Wyman as well as a number of regional industry specialists for an engaging discussion into the progress at COP28 and key themes for risk managers.