Allianz Climate Risk Award
"Science plays a crucial role in addressing climate risk"
- Award supports aspiring researches in the field of climate risk
- Allianz Research Fellowship announced for 2023
Allianz Re has for the sixth time awarded the Allianz Climate Risk Award to four aspiring academic researchers in the field of climate risk. The 2023 winner is Emily Vosper, University of Bristol, for her work on machine learning for explainable tropical cyclone downscaling and future climate risk management.
“It is clear that climate change is the key risk of our time, and science plays a critical role in addressing this risk,” says Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO of Allianz Reinsurance. “The work of scientists such as those we are awarding helps us to better understand climate change and, more importantly, how we can help to quantify and adapt to the associated risks.”
Chris Townsend, Allianz SE Board Member for Global insurance Lines, Anglo Markets, MENA and Africa, emphasized the role of science in his welcome address: "The findings from science remain an invaluable asset in protecting humanity against the risks of climate change. We trust in ambitious scientists like the four finalists of the Allianz Climate Risk Award. Their dedication makes a real difference for the most vulnerable and helps us to evolve risk protection solutions for our customers."
The annual Allianz Climate Risk Award recognizes the work of twelve scientists of which four are selected to present their work to an interdisciplinary jury that includes experts from in- and outside of Allianz for a final ranking and cash awards. The jury awarded the second prize to Daniel T. Kahl, University of Irvine, for his work on combining flood models with population vulnerability, followed by Peter Pfleiderer, Hamburg University, for his work on Atlantic hurricane year-to-year variability and Mona Hemmati, Columbia University, for her work on a comprehensive tropical cyclone risk model.
“Understanding forward-looking climate science is crucial in mitigating the systemic effects of physical climate risk,” says Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance. “At Allianz Re, our job is to make sure that the latest scientific insights are used to make better decisions to protect our customers.”
The jury for the 2022 Allianz Climate Risk Award included Line Hestvik, Allianz Group Sustainability Officer, Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance, Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance, Markus Stowasser, Global Head of Catastrophe Risk Management, Allianz Reinsurance, Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, Chair of Geography and Geographical Remote Setting, and Nina Ridder, the winner of the 2021 Allianz Climate Risk Award.
On the day of the Award, Holger Tewes-Kampelmann announced Allianz Re’s new initiative to support climate science research: “To complement the Allianz Climate Risk Award and to more proactively support research that is linked to our business, I am excited to launch the Allianz Research Fellowship as of next year. This Fellowship is tailored to drive innovative research projects on topics aligned with our climate change risk strategy and is open to researchers from universities and research institutes worldwide,” says Tewes-Kampelmann. Allianz Re will fund a 1-year research project in close partnership with the company.
About Allianz Re
Allianz Re is the reinsurance arm of the Allianz Group. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Allianz Re has offices located close to key markets in Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, tailoring reinsurance solutions to the diverse business needs of customers worldwide. Allianz Re acts as the Center of Competence for Natural Perils for the Allianz Group, providing expertise, tools and analytics along the entire (re)insurance value chain to optimize the Allianz Group’s exposure to natural perils and address the physical risk of climate change. A total of 547 employees work at Allianz Re.
About Allianz
The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 126 million* private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 716 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage nearly 1.8 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to the systematic integration of environmental, social and governance criteria in our operations, business processes and investment decisions, we continue to be recognized as among the top sustainable insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (September 23, 2022). In 2021, over 155,000 employees achieved total revenues of 148.5 billion euros and an operating profit of 13.4 billion euros for the group.
These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below.
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of June 30, 2022
