Marsh has produced a disaster resilience “place-based” action plan in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. 

The plan presses the need to coordinate risk management beyond individual assets by focusing on shared infrastructure that protects communities and locations.

“The place in which an asset is located affects the overall risk,” the Addressing Insurability: A Playbook for Investing in Place-Based Resilience report says. 

“Place-based dependencies refer to  the surrounding conditions that shape an asset’s physical risk, operational continuity and recovery but sit outside the sole control of the asset owner. 

“These can include surrounding infrastructure, natural systems and land use conditions.” 

According to the report, a well-fortified building may still be at risk if off-site conditions such as storm drainage fail or if nearby vegetation is inadequately managed. 

“For some assets, there is only so much that can be done at the site level. The asset is dependent on its surroundings to help mitigate the risk,” the report says. 

Marsh Risk head of climate and sustainability strategy Amy Barnes says the report “is a call to action. We know that place-based resilience works. What we need is for place-based interventions to be tested, scaled, and owned by coalitions. 

“Insurability concerns are a signal that our risk management is insufficient. By working together across government, business, investors, and communities, we can address the collective-action challenge and build resilience that protects not just individual properties, but entire places and economies.” 

The report can be found here.