Willis, WTW’s insurance brokerage, risk advisory and advisory arm, has launched an upgraded climate diagnostics solution designed to help organizations assess and respond to the growing impact of climate-related risks on the property insurance market.
The updated tool forms part of the WTW Risk IQ platform, which, according to Willis, provides advanced climate risk analysis capable of assessing current and future exposure to floods, storms and other major climate hazards. The solution is designed to measure the potential impact of these risks on physical assets, operational activities and supply chains.
Willis noted that the insurance industry is facing increasing pressure as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe. As a result, insurers are either raising premiums for property insurance or reducing their presence in areas deemed to be highly exposed to climate-related threats. The company said this trend is expected to continue as climate risks intensify, potentially causing long-term challenges for businesses, communities and the economy.
To support clients in managing these evolving risks, Willis is integrating climate diagnostics into its brokerage processes and risk engineering assessments. The enhanced platform enables brokers and risk managers to analyze and quantify the impact of severe climate events, including severe floods and storms, on real estate portfolio and business disruption risks under current and future climate scenarios, the company said.
Commenting on the launch, Peter Carter, head of climate at Willis, said: “The volatility and frequency of climate hazards are increasing. Embedding climate diagnostics into brokerage workflows and engineering surveys sets a new industry standard, and clients can benefit from built-in scanning for the risk of ongoing climate change volatility.”
Willis explained that the solution uses scenario-based modeling to assess climate-related risks within an organization’s asset portfolio. The company said this enables businesses to gain a clearer understanding of their vulnerability to insurable climate risks while testing the resilience of their risk management and financial strategies over different time horizons.
Willis said insights generated from climate diagnostics can help organizations incorporate resilience and adaptation measures into their risk transfer plans. The platform also supports the evaluation of alternative approaches to risk management, including physical adaptation projects and alternative risk transfer arrangements, the company added.
Willis further said climate diagnostics can estimate the financial value of assets exposed to extreme weather events and long-term climate trends. The company said this capability enables organizations to assess whether their existing risk financing and insurance strategies remain appropriate as climate-related volatility increases.
Carter added: “Early identification of assets exposed to climate-related risks gives risk managers the opportunity to build resilience and improve future insurability before disaster strikes.”
Willis said the enhanced solution includes interactive mapping tools that enable users to visualize climate risks and asset risks across different regions, climate scenarios and future time horizons. The company notes that these tools can help organizations identify high-risk locations, assess individual assets and understand the financial impacts associated with specific climate hazards.
The company added that climate diagnostics have been developed specifically for use within real estate brokerage and engineering workflows, enabling climate-related considerations to be more effectively incorporated into risk management decisions. Willis also said the underlying data is scientifically validated and provides clients with an independent, forward-looking view of climate-related insurance risks.
