The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have launched a joint initiative aimed at developing a finance framework that helps organisations fund climate resilience measures before climate-related events strike. Announced in Brussels and unveiled at WBCSD's annual meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, the initiative, named Open Sesame, brings together representatives from risk management, insurance, sustainable finance, banking and the investment community. Its aim is to accelerate the development of a framework that channels capital into preventive and adaptive climate measures rather than focusing solely on post-event response. FERMA and WBCSD note that climate-driven losses are likely to outpace private insurance capacity, and that public-private partnerships are increasingly viewed as central to sharing risk and stabilising coverage. Current efforts to finance future natural catastrophe impacts, the partners say, remain largely focused on post-event response rather than pre-event prevention. The initiative will define and structure a unified finance framework intended to enable organisations to fund climate-related risk management and mitigation measures more efficiently, while supporting their adaptation to climate change through responsible capital raising. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) acts as secretariat to the partnership. Confirmed participants include Allianz Commercial, Aon, FM, Howden, Marsh, PWC Italy, SCOR and Sigma7, alongside FERMA's partners and WBCSD member companies. Additional participants are expected to join, including WBCSD members introduced to the project at the annual meeting. The work will focus on four areas: aligning climate exposure models, standards and data inputs to ensure credible risk assessment; establishing standardised methods to quantify how preventive actions reduce exposure; creating a methodology to assess the value of resilience investments and support capital allocation decisions; and designing a framework that translates resilience outcomes into verifiable metrics aligned with sustainable finance requirements. The consultation phase is expected to culminate in an interim report later this year. Laurent Nihoul, chief executive of FERMA, says: "Expanding access to dedicated funding mechanisms for prevention and risk-mitigation measures is critical to reducing loss frequency and severity, strengthening resilience, and improving the long-term insurability of exposed assets and activities. Open Sesame is critical for corporate leaders striving to address the urgent financial challenge of climate resilience, enabling them to invest proactively to ensure their organisations are prepared and robustly positioned to manage a rapidly evolving climate." Fiona Watson, vice president, corporate performance and accountability at WBCSD, adds: "Enabling climate resilience is not just a risk issue, but a strategic investment priority. By creating a framework that translates climate risk reduction into clear, investable outcomes we aim to bridge the gap between resilience needs and financial markets, promoting systemic resilience to increasing physical risk." Philippe Cotelle, president of FERMA, says the federation has been progressing the initiative over several months and values the partnership with WBCSD. "By aligning stakeholders across the financial and risk ecosystem, this joint effort supports our mission to drive coordinated solutions that strengthen organisations' ability to withstand and adapt to climate risk," he comments.
