Risk Financing for Nature-Based Solutions
Nature plays a significant role in reducing risks for coastal communities, flooding, food security, and a range of other ecosystem services that often remain undervalued and inadequately financed in our market economy. This inspiring webinar will look at innovative ways in which the risk abatement value of nature can be monetized and maintained through innovative risk financing mechanisms that support ecosystem resilience. Presenters and panelists include Cherie Gray of Swiss Re, Mark Way of TNC, Jacq Wharton of Willis Towers Watson, and Claudia Ruiz of the MAR Fund.
Meet our panelists:
Jacq Wharton - Head of Ecosystem Resilience in the Climate and Resilience Hub, Willis Towers Watson
Jacq Wharton is the Head of Ecosystem Resilience in the Climate and Resilience Hub at Willis Towers Watson where she consults to a diverse set of stakeholders on climate and disaster risk management and financing approaches to building public and private sector resilience. Her expertise is in designing and implementing bespoke risk financing mechanisms and insurance programmes to support vulnerable populations and public goods, with a particular focus on resilient, adaptive, and regenerative coastal communities and marine ecosystems.
Cherie Gray - Global Lead for Sustainability and Market Development, Swiss Re
Cherie Gray is the Global Lead for Sustainability and Market Development at Swiss Re, a leading provider of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of risk transfer. Part of the Public Sector Solutions business, Cherie works with governments, institutions, NGOs, and the insurance industry to create opportunities that support nature-based solutions and broader sustainability practices. Cherie's experience and strengths are in strategy development and transformation, which she now applies to exploring and developing new markets and risk pools.
Claudia Ruiz - Reef Rescue Initiative Coordinator, MAR Fund
Claudia Ruiz works at MAR Fund as the Reef Rescue Initiative Coordinator. She oversees the overall implementation of the project, and is the point of contact to work with governments, regional authorities, and key stakeholders of the MAR Region. She coordinates capacity building, and the development of regional instruments for the restoration and conservation of reefs. She has worked in the MAR region for 17 years, working at various international organizations, achieving important results in the conservation and protection of the coastal-marine resources of the MAR.
Mark Way - Director, Global Coastal Risk and Resilience, TNC
Mark Way leads The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Global Coastal Risk and Resilience team. His work focuses on protecting people, their livelihoods and their communities from severe weather impacts and climate change by building resilience using natural infrastructure such as coral reefs, mangrove forests and salt marshes. This program also explores new and innovative financial mechanisms to address these risks.
Image: Tracey Jennings / Ocean Agency