SCOR and AXA have formed a Lloyd's of London consortium focused on providing insurance coverage for ecological restoration projects.
The consortium aims to support financing for restoration initiatives by offering risk transfer solutions for projects that assist the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. It will underwrite SCOR's Restore Product, which covers the implementation phase of ecological restoration projects.
SCOR's Syndicate 2015 at Lloyd's will lead the consortium, with support from AXA XL Syndicate 2003 at Lloyd's. The combined capacity is intended to enable coverage for larger and more complex restoration projects globally.
Get the latest reinsurance news direct to your inbox twice a week. Sign up here
The launch follows SCOR's NatReCo (Nature Restoration and Conservation) initiative, introduced in May 2024 to develop insurance solutions for nature-focused restoration and rehabilitation efforts.
Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR P&C, said the Restore product is designed to support project completion and provide confidence to stakeholders involved in ecological restoration.
"By partnering with AXA, we can scale our impact and help address one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time," Conoscente said. He added that the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to supporting ecosystems and long-term societal welfare.
Etienne Champion, P&C Commercial Group chief underwriting officer at AXA, described the product as a continuation of the company's environmental commitments.
"With SCOR, we are taking a further step: offering a solution that concretely secures nature restoration projects and turns our commitments into tangible actions in support of natural capital," Champion said.
Champion noted that biodiversity preservation has economic implications, citing estimates that around 50% of the world's economy relies directly or indirectly on healthy ecosystems.
The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report supports this view. On a 10-year outlook, "biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse" ranks second among environmental risks by severity.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents in the report view the long-term outlook for environmental risks as either turbulent or stormy, reflecting growing concern among economic actors about the trajectory of natural systems.
