This webinar is an official side event of the 2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development & 4th PrepCom for FFD4 (30 April – 1 May)
Description: Despite global commitments, the stark reality is that only 16% of the SDG targets are on track and the annual 2030 Agenda financing gap is $4.2 trillion. While risk is a recurring theme throughout development discussions, the insurance industry’s distinctive risk management and risk transfer capabilities remain significantly underutilized. The industry is a cornerstone of the global financial system, managing assets of over $40 trillion, paying claims and benefits of up to $5.5 trillion annually, and holding liabilities of $36 trillion for future payouts. This webinar will explore how the industry can play a greater role in helping households, businesses, and governments navigate risks, build resilience, and enable transformations from unsustainable to sustainable practices. Leading global experts across the public and private sectors will explore how insurance can drive the transformational innovations required to achieve sustainable development.
Organizers: UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Government of Ireland SDG Champion (UCD), UNITAR
Partners: Better Insurance Network, Insurance Development Forum, Swiss Re, UCL, UN World Food Programme
Date: 30 April 2025
Time: 10h – 11h15 (ET) / 16h – 17h15 (CEST)
Venue: Zoom
CONCEPT
Sustainable development is at risk. Cascading and compounding risks and crises are obscuring our collective vision for a sustainable future, a future where we have successfully transformed our world across the economic, social, environmental, and governance dimensions. Unfortunately, despite global commitments, the stark reality is that only 16% of the SDG targets are on track and the annual 2030 Agenda financing gap is $4.2 trillion.
A revitalized international financial architecture is urgently required to unlock public and private finance towards sustainable development. A whole-of-society approach is crucial. However, while the financial instruments of banks and investors are widely recognized as essential levers of change, the insurance industry’s distinctive risk management and risk transfer capabilities remain significantly underrepresented in development agendas and frameworks.
The draft Outcome document of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development emphasizes growing risks and the importance of risk management, referencing “risk” 32 times, yet “insurance” is mentioned only six times. This oversight is striking given that the insurance industry is a cornerstone of the global financial system, managing assets of over $40 trillion, paying claims and benefits of up to $5.5 trillion annually, and holding liabilities of $36 trillion for future payouts.
This event will explore how the insurance industry can play a greater role in helping households, businesses, and governments navigate risks, build resilience, and enable transformations from unsustainable to sustainable practices. Leading global experts across the public and private sectors will explore how insurance can drive the transformational innovations required to achieve sustainable development.
KEY QUESTIONS
This event will convene senior leaders and decision-makers from the public and private sectors to explore how insurance can be leveraged more effectively as a tool for sustainable development. Key questions include:
- How does the insurance industry help households, businesses, and governments navigate risks, build resilience, and enable transformations from unsustainable to sustainable practices?
- How are development organizations integrating insurance into their toolkits to quickly and predictably access finance after climate- and humanitarian-related shocks occur, enabling populations to recover and rebuild quicker?
- How does insurance support people to manage catastrophic health expenses and the death of breadwinners, reducing the likelihood of vulnerable populations falling into extreme poverty?
- What actions can policymakers, regulators, development organizations, and (re)insurance companies take to scale the use of insurance in development efforts and build societal resilience?
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Launch of the SDSN Position Paper on Insurance and Sustainable Development: This paper will outline the critical role of insurance in risk management, resilience building, and sustainable development, providing actionable recommendations for policymakers and industry leaders.
- Launch of the MOOC on Insurance and the SDGs: Developed in collaboration with Better Insurance Network, SDSN, and UNITAR, and hosted by the SDG Academy, this course will equip stakeholders with the knowledge needed to integrate insurance solutions into development strategies.
- Recommendations to the next draft outcome document of the 4th Forum on Financing for Development (FFD4).
By bringing together key stakeholders, this event aims to foster a deeper understanding of the transformative potential of insurance in the global development agenda and set the stage for stronger partnerships and policies that harness risk management for a more sustainable and resilient future.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
We kindly ask that participants interested in joining this webinar to please register in advance on Zoom using the link below.
Proposed agenda
10h – 10h10
Opening Remarks & Keynote
- Paul Walsh, Vice President of Education & Director of the SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
10h10 – 10h15
Setting the Scene: Sustainable Development and the Insurance Industry
- Lorcán Hall, Senior Advisor, SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
- SDSN Position Paper on Insurance & Sustainable Development – A roadmap for integrating insurance into global development strategies.
10h15 – 10h50
Panel Discussion: Rethinking Insurance in Development Finance
Speakers
- Ivo Menzinger, Chair Operating Committee, Insurance Development Forum
- Dr. Franziska Arnold-Dwyer, Associate Professor of Law, UCL
- Mathieu Dubreuil, Lead Programme Advisor for Disaster Risk Financing, Climate and Resilience Service, World Food Programme
- Shelly Habecker PhD, Global Life and Health Sustainability Lead, Swiss Re
Moderator: Lorcán Hall, Senior Advisor, SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Format:
- Each panelist provides a short (6-8min) intervention
- Moderated discussion
10h50 – 11h00
Knowledge Spotlight: The role of insurance on advancing the SDGs
- Isabela Carrozza Joia, Program Associate, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
- Antony Ireland, Co-founder, Better Insurance Network
11h00 – 11h10
Q&A
11h10 – 11h15
Closing Remarks: The Way Forward
- Paul Walsh, Vice President of Education & Director of the SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Speakers:
Patrick Paul Walsh, Vice President of Education and Director, SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Patrick Paul Walsh is the Vice President of Education and Director of the SDG Academy at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). He is on secondment from University College Dublin where he remains a Full Professor of International Development Studies, Director of the UCD M.Sc. in Sustainable Development in partnership with the SDG Academy and President of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society (SSISI) of Ireland. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a Government of Ireland Fellow, Marie Curie (Brussels) Fellow, IZA (Bonn) Fellow, RSA (London) Fellow, EIIR (Brussels) Fellow and REPOA (Tanzania) fellow. He has held academic positions in Trinity College Dublin, K.U. Leuven, Harvard University and Columbia University. He has also held positions in the United Nations, European Commission, IMF and World Bank.
Ivo Menzinger, Chair Operating Committee, Insurance Development Forum
Ivo Menzinger is Chair of the Operating Committee of the Insurance Development Forum, a member of the OECD’s High Level Advisory Board on the Financial Management of Catastrophes, and Swiss Re’s Managing Director responsible for business with the public sector across Europe, Middle East & Africa. At Swiss Re, Ivo and his team advise governments and publicly owned entities on their risk transfer and risk services needs and implement innovative insurance solutions. Ivo holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Environmental Sciences from the Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland (ETH), complemented by graduate studies in the US and post-graduate studies in Costa Rica.
Dr. Franziska Arnold-Dwyer, Associate Professor of Law, UCL
Dr Franziska Arnold-Dwyer is an Associate Professor at UCL and a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Her research interests are re/insurance solutions and the intersection of insurance contract law, risk governance, climate change and sustainability. Her pioneering book ‘Insurance, Climate Change and the Law’ (Routledge, 2024) won an InsuranceERM Climate Risk and Sustainability Award in 2024. She is the editor of leading reinsurance law textbook ‘The Law of Reinsurance and England and Bermuda’ (4th 5th and 6th edition; Sweet & Maxwell) and has published widely on re/insurance law.
Mathieu Dubreuil, Lead Advisor for Disaster Risk Financing & Insurance, World Food Programme
Mathieu Dubreuil is Lead Programme Advisor for Disaster Risk Financing at the World Food Programme in the Climate and Resilience Service. He is overseeing the development and implementation of all insurance programmes globally, both at community and global levels. In 2024, WFP recorded more than 6 m beneficiaries from insurance schemes. He is also a member of the Insurance Development Forum and the Global Shield against Climate Risks. Before joining WFP, he was managing PlaNet Guarantee in West Africa, and particularly heading a regional index insurance programme, based in Senegal, introducing the first index insurance schemes in the region. Mathieu graduated from EDHEC Business School.
Shelly Habecker PhD, Global Life & Health Sustainability Co-Lead, Swiss Re
As Global Life & Health Sustainability Co-Lead, Shelly Habecker drives Swiss Re’s global efforts to make life and health insurance more inclusive for underserved communities. At Swiss Re for nine years, Shelly has held several roles dedicated to customer research, strategic partnerships, and leading cross-functional teams to innovate insurance solutions that enable social impact and business growth. She is an anthropologist with an Oxford University PhD in Development Studies and seven years’ experience teaching at two US universities. She also worked for the US government Office of Refugee Resettlement and in several African countries as a US Peace Corps volunteer and consultant for NGOs and the UNHCR.
Lorcán Hall, Senior Advisor, SDG Academy, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Lorcán Hall is Senior Advisor to the SDG Academy at SDSN. He is a strategy, transformation, and innovation leader with 25 years’ experience across the insurance, pensions, and investment sectors in Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Most recently, he held global leadership roles with Hannover Re and SCOR, two of the world’s largest reinsurance companies. With an MSc. in Sustainable Development from University College Dublin, earned in collaboration with the SDG Academy, and an MBA, Lorcán’s current focus is facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships to ideate, innovate, and scale impactful insurance solutions.
Antony Ireland, Founder, Better Insurance Network
Antony Ireland is the founder of Better Insurance Network, a global community of insurance professionals driving sustainability best practices, implementation and innovation through knowledge sharing, networking, mentoring and education. Key achievements include developing Sustainability for Insurers elearning – the first dedicated online sustainability training tool for insurance professionals, created in collaboration with 15 organisations and adopted by major carriers in the UK, Europe and Bermuda. Prior to launching Better Insurance Network in 2021, Antony covered risk, insurance and asset management for 15 years as a financial journalist, editing trade publications and launching emerging markets titles in Asia, Africa, Latam and the Middle East.
Isabela Carrozza Joia, Program Associate, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Isabela is a Program Associate, SDG Academy, at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). She is one the lead project managers of the Insurance and the SDGs Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), supporting in its conception, development and outreach initiatives. Before joining SDSN, Isabela worked on sustainable development communication strategies at the OECD Development Communication Network, specializing in researching public perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable development. She holds a MSc in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of Geneva (IHEID).
