Twenty-three billion-dollar disasters, $115 billion in damage, and not one hurricane: 2025 was a masterclass in how climate risk in the U.S. has changed.
Twenty-three billion-dollar weather and climate disasters struck the United States in 2025, revealing important takeaways for decision-makers in the real estate, public infrastructure, and insurance sectors.
Property insurance markets across the U.S. are under strain as premiums rise and insurers pull back from high-risk regions. In response, a growing number of states are leaning on public and quasi-public reinsurance backstops.
In a world of more frequent climate stressors and disasters, parametric insurance is a fast, nimble way to compensate communities for losses. Its growing popularity in the disaster space (from earthquakes to hurricanes) makes it a necessary tool to help communities bounce back.
The Dixon Trail community in California could signal a way forward for stakeholders grappling with the heightened risk of building, owning, and insuring homes in the fire-prone West.
Francis Bouchard, Managing Director of Climate for Marsh McLennan, recently interviewed Roy Wright, CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), to discuss the future of insurance in the age of climate change and the importance of product innovation.
When disaster strikes, the question is not whether we will rebuild, but how. The problem is that it costs more to rebuild a home to disaster-resilient standards. We need new flexible and dedicated financing products that make it easier for homeowners to make critical resilience investments.
The Greenline Housing Foundation is helping Altadena residents recover, rebuild, and remain in the neighborhood following January's devastating fire. This profile of Greenline’s work examines how rebuilding with resiliency can drive a recovery that preserves wealth and gets residents back home.
Historically, strong federal environmental regulations drove government action to manage water resources -- that’s changing as more communities experience flooding and see the benefits of nature-based solutions to mitigate those impacts.
Insurers play a key role in sending risk signals, sometimes in a form other than price. These risk experts need to lead by reframing the “insurance crisis” as the “insurability crisis,” and leveraging a time-tested safety standard approach to align a complex ecosystem of competing interests.
