The International Finance Corporation and QBE have struck a deal to extend a building resilience program in Asia and the Pacific region.

The IFC’s Building Resilience Index, launched in 2021, provides a web-based hazard mapping and resilience assessment framework that evaluates climate-related risks for real estate projects.

QBE Asia is the first insurance company to join the program, which plans to broaden its scope beyond developers to include homebuyers, financial institutions and governments.

The project aims to support development of insurance products that reward resilience in building design, construction and operation, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions.

“The frequency and severity of extreme weather events are placing unprecedented pressure on buildings and communities across Asia and the Pacific,” IFC Singapore and Brunei country manager Katia Daude Goncalves said.

“Together with QBE, we’re determined to help close the property insurance gap while promoting resilient development across the region.”

QBE wholesale markets Asia CEO Ronak Shah says developing innovative insurance is a key feature of the partnership.

“Rewarding building resilience through favourable underwriting terms and conditions for properties with high [index] ratings, for example, is one such solution,” he said. 

“Another is to improve risk modelling by combining our data and technology.”

The collaboration builds on the index’s pilot in the Philippines and rollouts across east Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and south Asia.

IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and the largest development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.

The Building Resilience Index is funded by the Australian government and was developed and piloted with seed funding from the Netherlands government and the Rockefeller Foundation, in co-operation with other organisations.