BDA CEO: Climate push will help bring more talent and capital into Bermuda
BDA CEO: Climate push will help bring more talent and capital into Bermuda
Bermuda’s development as a climate risk finance hub will further increase the talent and capital inflow to the island, according to Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) CEO David Hart.
Speaking to The Insurer following the BDA’s inaugural Climate Risk Summit this week, Hart said he was confident the island could achieve its goal of becoming a leader in the climate finance space.
“While we have assembled an incredible build-up of talent over the past 30 years, new innovation and finance ideas are happening all the time and my strong hunch is we will see new capital and talent inflows into Bermuda,” he said.
The BDA launched its initiative to make the island the leading jurisdiction for climate risk finance in April last year.
The strategy, which is being developed in collaboration with the private sector, is aligned with and complementary to Bermuda’s existing strengths in the (re)insurance, ILS and professional services sectors, the BDA said.
“There is a unique opportunity for Bermuda to play a role here,” Hart said.
He added that he was “over the moon” with the success of this week’s Climate Risk Summit, which brought together 150 thought leaders from around the world in Bermuda.
“One keynote speaker said there was no more important conversation taking place across the world than the one happening at our event in Bermuda,” he said.
Hart will now form part of a Bermuda delegation heading to London in the coming weeks, ahead of further trade missions to Canada and Singapore before this year’s COP27 meeting in Egypt.
Bermuda’s deputy premier Walter Roban, who led the Bermuda delegation at COP26, will also be visiting London next month.
Roban said the Bermuda government was committed to work with Bermuda’s insurance and reinsurance community to position the island as a major participant in the emerging climate finance space.
He said it would represent a “natural fit” for Bermuda to play a leading role in climate finance given the pioneering role the island had played in the development of the property catastrophe, ILS and captive insurance sectors.