On Aon Podcast: Turning Climate Risk into Strategic Resilience

On Aon Podcast: Turning Climate Risk into Strategic Resilience
November 14, 2025 10 mins

On Aon Podcast: Turning Climate Risk into Strategic Resilience

On Aon Podcast Hero Image

In the latest episode of On Aon, Liz Henderson, global head of climate risk advisory, and Tracy-Lee Kus, CEO of Aon's Global Broking Center, discuss the urgent topic of climate risk and resilience. Resilience in organizational strategy is no longer optional — but imperative for sustainable growth.

Key Takeaways
  1. Climate resilience is now a board-level priority and becoming increasingly important to business strategy and the insurance sector.
  2. Regional regulations are causing organizations to adapt their risk strategies.
  3. Aon has heavily invested in advanced analytics and climate modeling to empower clients with a complete and actionable view of their climate risk, supporting better decisions and long-term resilience strategies.

Intro:
Hello and welcome to this episode of On Aon — where we dive into some of the most pressing risk capital and human capital issues businesses around the world are facing.

With climate risk driving more frequent and severe events, this episode examines  the challenges—and solutions—shaping global business strategy today.

Our experts Liz Henderson — Global Head of Aon’s Climate Risk Advisory — and Tracy-Lee Kus — CEO, Global Broking Center at Aon — explore how organizations can build resilience in an increasingly complex and interconnected climate risk environment.

Liz Henderson
Hello there and welcome to the latest episode of On Aon. I'm Liz Henderson, Aon's head of global climate risk advisory. And in this episode, we are going to be talking about the crucial issue of climate risk and resilience. Risk and resilience is critical to how Aon is helping our clients.

And as I reflect on the upcoming COP 30 event in Brazil, where world leaders are gathering to discuss climate action and how to implement different solutions, the issue of resilience and adaptation has never been more important and is now central to business strategy and to the insurance sector.

Climate risk is driving more frequent and severe events. Businesses are facing rising insurance costs, regulatory pressures and disruptions to their workforces, supply chains and operations. This has led to the insurance industry responding with new products, advanced analytics and a focus on resilience, making this a critical area for leadership, innovation, and competitive advantage.

We will be discussing these issues and more during our Aon Insight Series in Brazil in Sao Paulo on November 5th in the lead up to COP.

And I'm thrilled to be discussing this topic today with Aon's Global Broking Center CEO, Tracy-Lee Kus. Welcome, Tracy.

Tracy-Lee Kus
Thank you Liz. It's wonderful to be here.

Liz Henderson 
So let's get into it. One of the things that we hear from our clients is that they're facing a lot of uncertainty in how insurers are viewing climate risks. So do you have a perspective? What changes are you seeing in how insurers and clients are responding to climate volatility?

Tracy-Lee Kus
Liz, we've seen quite a lot happen and in various ways depending on the insurance. And I see it in probably three different ways.

The one is around a change in the catastrophe and climate models.

Secondly, a lot of work being done around data-driven techniques in getting information and data.

And then we're starting to see innovation in various areas, including areas like parametric insurance.

Climate risk is now central to pricing and forecasting. Insurers are integrating advanced catastrophe models. They're getting really specialized in climate science and real-time data to quantify risks more accurately. I think this is especially important for secondary perils like severe convective storms and floods, which has driven —  I find it hard to believe —  about $145 billion in insured losses globally just in 2024.

The market response is definitely evolving as people learn more. Insurance markets are tightening capacity and raising premiums in high-risk areas. And they're really trying to reflect the increased volatility and a measure of uncertainty in what's taking place.

Liz Henderson 
Yeah, I think that's really a shocking number, the $145 billion in insured losses globally. And I like to think about how many claims the insurance industry has paid out since the year 2000, we've paid out $2.5 trillion in losses for natural catastrophe. So, the amount of information and data and experience our industry has on this topic is really significant.

And just to add on that too — the Global Catastrophe Risk Management Survey that our reinsurance solutions team put out this year found that about 68% of insurers are taking climate change into account when they're developing their catastrophe view of risk.

So, that advanced data and modeling point that you made is spot on and the industry is really investing heavily in that space.

And it's one of the themes that we saw emerging from our event in New York Climate Week — our risk and resilience event — how we can match risk to the right price and measure the impact and benefit of resilience for our clients.

But I just wanted to talk about another big topic in climate risk and resilience, which is regulation. I think we've seen a lot of action and activity from our clients in response to regulation, but it is changing significantly.

California has a new climate disclosure rule that is being implemented and the EU's CSRD is asking clients to adapt their risk strategies.

So, how are you seeing regulatory regimes change and how are those changes playing a role in how we're helping our clients or working with them around not just responding to the compliance issue but actually turning it into a competitive advantage?

Tracy-Lee Kus 
I think one of the good things about, you know, I think we all find regulation quite cumbersome, but in this stage, one of the good things is that the clients are really responding to the regulation.

So, I think there are certain areas where clients were trying to work out how to operate, but once the regulation comes in, they take it really seriously and they're trying to adhere to all of those changes.

These regulatory frameworks, they vary widely by region and by industry, so that can sometimes make things quite complex.

So, our approach is tailored to local regulations, the maturity of the markets and sector-specific risks.

So, you mentioned California, but California and the EU, I think are typically regarded as the leaders in climate related regulation. And this is probably leading the way for showing other countries and regions what is coming in the next few years.

Our climate risk advisory team does create region-specific climate disclosure advisory services to try and address this and to support clients through these requirements. And this will really take the specific requirements of the country or state that the clients operate in into account.

If you're a client with multi-jurisdictional issues that can be really complex, at Aon we're leveraging advanced analytics and climate modeling to help clients meet these new requirements and integrate the climate risk into enterprise risk management.

Our strategies themselves are now focused on helping clients to use disclosure, not just for compliance, but as a catalyst for resilience, capital access, and stakeholder trust.

So, I think it's really raising what  some of our risk managers are doing right up onto board-level topics.

Liz Henderson 
Love that last point, Tracy Lee, because I think that the one thing that we always say around climate risk is that it's both a risk in and of itself as it drives weather volatility, but it is also a risk amplifier across an organization, whether that's through your workforce, health and wellbeing, supply chain, etc.

And really raising that view of risk and the risk manager's role to that board level is a way for us to help our clients unlock the most value out of their insurance programs and make sure that the value of insurance is seen as a strategic imperative at those senior levels in an organization.

And what's interesting, that regulation is what can drive that, but it's really organizations that take the regulatory imperative and turn that into insight and decision-making that are going to stand out.

So, we briefly touched on innovation at the top of this episode, but I'd like to revisit that for our final discussion.

As the CEO of our Global Broking Center, Tracy-Lee, I imagine you must see a lot of innovative solutions come through. Can you share some examples of what you're seeing on how we're helping our clients anticipate and mitigate climate-driven disruptions?

Tracy-Lee Kus 
Absolutely. It's probably the part of our business I love the most is having clients coming in with an issue and us working together to try and find a solution. And we've seen that in a whole variety of ways as clients are moving to transition, a number of products we've been looking at.

But we normally start off with advanced analytics and modeling, this multi-model approach to create a complete view of climate risk from 135 proprietary models. And we spent $150 million on investment in analytics.

We're trying to leverage Aon's impact forecasting catastrophe re modeling suite and proprietary tools like the climate risk monitor to really help clients to quantify their exposures and just try to anticipate what the climate driven disruptions could be for their business.

These platforms enable scenario analysis, stress-testing and real-time tracking of emerging risks across both geographies and perils. We also have tech enabled solutions, integration of AI, and geospatial data allows us to deliver dynamic risk intelligence and rapid response capabilities.

Tools like our Property Risk Analyzer help clients identify, transfer, and to really reduce risk, helping to support smarter decision-making and resilience planning.

Liz Henderson
I think that's so true. We start with the data and the analytics. And I think when people can understand their risk and understand all the ways that it affects them, then you can really have a robust conversation around what's the right solution.

I think there's some other great examples where we've seen partnership with governments and NGOs to accelerate the development of new solutions, such as public-private resilience initiatives.

And one example of that is where we have been working with some of our clients in the Food Ag and Bev space to launch a parametric insurance program in partnership with the national government to ensure the reliability of crops around climate risk. In this case, using a parametric solution to incentivize smallholder farmers to grow crops. So, it's a great example of where with the right data, with the right understanding of risk, you can really help your clients solve problems that you know, really are embedded in their supply chain and using an innovative insurance solution to support and smooth out that volatility.

Tracy-Lee, thanks so much for your insight on what is such an important topic for businesses around the world.

Listeners can find out more about our Global Climate Advisory and our global Brooking Center and connect with an Aon colleague to discuss how we can help you on Aon.com.

And in the coming weeks, On Aon, will have episodes on other risk capital topics like the upcoming renewal season and the unique risks involved in autonomous vehicles. For now, thanks for listening.

Until next time.

Outro:
Thanks for tuning into the latest episode of On Aon. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to visit Aon.com to learn about Aon.

General Disclaimer

The information contained herein and the statements expressed are of a general nature and are not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information and use sources we consider reliable, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

Terms of Use

The contents herein may not be reproduced, reused, reprinted or redistributed without the expressed written consent of Aon, unless otherwise authorized by Aon. To use information contained herein, please write to our team.

Aon's Better Being Podcast

Our Better Being podcast series, hosted by Aon Chief Wellbeing Officer Rachel Fellowes, explores wellbeing strategies and resilience. This season we cover human sustainability, kindness in the workplace, how to measure wellbeing, managing grief and more.

Aon Insights Series Asia

Expert Views on Today's Risk Capital and Human Capital Issues

Aon Insights Series Pacific

Expert Views on Today's Risk Capital and Human Capital Issues

Aon Insights Series UK

Expert Views on Today's Risk Capital and Human Capital Issues

Client Trends 2025

Better Decisions Across Interconnected Risk and People Issues.

Construction and Infrastructure

The construction industry is under pressure from interconnected risks and notable macroeconomic developments. Learn how your organization can benefit from construction insurance and risk management.

Cyber Labs

Stay in the loop on today's most pressing cyber security matters.

Cyber Resilience

Our Cyber Resilience collection gives you access to Aon’s latest insights on the evolving landscape of cyber threats and risk mitigation measures. Reach out to our experts to discuss how to make the right decisions to strengthen your organization’s cyber resilience.

Employee Wellbeing

Our Employee Wellbeing collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's human capital team. You can also reach out to the team at any time for assistance with your employee wellbeing needs.

Environmental, Social and Governance Insights

Explore Aon's latest environmental social and governance (ESG) insights.

Q4 2023 Global Insurance Market Insights

Our Global Insurance Market Insights highlight insurance market trends across pricing, capacity, underwriting, limits, deductibles and coverages.

Global Risk Management Survey

Better Decisions Across Interconnected Risk and People Issues.

Regional Results

How do the top risks on business leaders’ minds differ by region and how can these risks be mitigated? Explore the regional results to learn more.

Top 10 Global Risks

Trade, technology, weather and workforce stability are the central forces in today’s risk landscape.

Industry Insights

These industry-specific articles explore the top risks, their underlying drivers and the actions leaders are taking to build resilience.

Human Capital Analytics

Our Human Capital Analytics collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's human capital team. Contact us to learn how Aon’s analytics capabilities helps organizations make better workforce decisions.

Human Capital Quarterly Insights Briefs

Read our collection of human capital articles that explore in depth hot topics for HR and risk professionals, including using data and analytics to measure total rewards programs, how HR and finance can better partner and the impact AI will have on the workforce.

Insights for HR

Explore our hand-picked insights for human resources professionals.

Workforce

Our Workforce Collection provides access to the latest insights from Aon’s Human Capital team on topics ranging from health and benefits, retirement and talent practices. You can reach out to our team at any time to learn how we can help address emerging workforce challenges.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Our Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's thought leaders to help dealmakers make better decisions. Explore our latest insights and reach out to the team at any time for assistance with transaction challenges and opportunities.

Natural Resources and Energy Transition

The challenges in adopting renewable energy are changing with technological advancements, increasing market competition and numerous financial support mechanisms. Learn how your organization can benefit from our renewables solutions. 

Navigating Volatility

How do businesses navigate their way through new forms of volatility and make decisions that protect and grow their organizations?

Parametric Insurance

Our Parametric Insurance Collection provides ways your organization can benefit from this simple, straightforward and fast-paying risk transfer solution. Reach out to learn how we can help you make better decisions to manage your catastrophe exposures and near-term volatility.

Pay Transparency and Equity

Our Pay Transparency and Equity collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's human capital team on topics ranging from pay equity to diversity, equity and inclusion. Contact us to learn how we can help your organization address these issues.

Property Risk Management

Forecasters are predicting an extremely active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Take measures to build resilience to mitigate risk for hurricane-prone properties.

Technology

Our Technology Collection provides access to the latest insights from Aon's thought leaders on navigating the evolving risks and opportunities of technology. Reach out to the team to learn how we can help you use technology to make better decisions for the future.

Trade

Our Trade Collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's thought leaders on navigating the evolving risks and opportunities for international business. Reach out to our team to understand how to make better decisions around macro trends and why they matter to businesses.

Transaction Solutions Global Claims Study

Better Decisions Across Interconnected Risk and People Issues.

Weather

With a changing climate, organizations in all sectors will need to protect their people and physical assets, reduce their carbon footprint, and invest in new solutions to thrive. Our Weather Collection provides you with critical insights to be prepared.

Workforce Resilience

Our Workforce Resilience collection gives you access to the latest insights from Aon's Human Capital team. You can reach out to the team at any time for questions about how we can assess gaps and help build a more resilience workforce.

More Like This

View All
View All
Subscribe CTA Banner