France-headquartered climate risk manager AXA Climate and an Irish forestry management software company have teamed up to launch insurance for forestry fires and storms.
The climate arm of insurance giant AXA and Treemetrics said in a press release Monday they developed an insurance product to address the growing concerns of forestry owners and investors about the impacts of the climate crisis, as the frequency and severity of natural disasters continue to rise worldwide.
“Over our past 19 years in business across the globe, we have observed firsthand the ever-increasing rise in catastrophic storms and fires,” said Enda Keane, CEO of Treemetrics.
“Our collaboration with AXA Climate aims to address these challenges head-on, providing forest owners with the security and peace of mind they need to manage their investments effectively.”
The partnership seeks to combine AXA’s expertise in financial protection with cutting-edge technology and scientific insights to better understand and mitigate risks, the companies said.
In 2022, Treemetrics launched an ESA-backed platform to monitor and manage forests in real time, leveraging satellite and drone imagery processing software to provide insights for forest owners and managers.
“[The collaboration] marks a significant step forward in providing comprehensive and technologically advanced solutions to the forestry sector, ensuring that forest owners can protect their assets and invest with confidence in a changing climate,” added Quentin Voituron, forestry intelligence specialist at AXA Climate.
AXA is among the 320 early adopters of the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations, unveiled in mid-January at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as well as one of the signatories to the Nature Action 100 initiative, aimed at pressuring investees for tangible progress on addressing nature-related risks and dependencies.
In February, AXA Investment Managers – the investment arm of the company which manages €842 billion in assets as of the end of Sep. 2023 – pledged to target companies failing to disclose their impacts on biodiversity with nature-related reputational and business risks.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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