UN Global Climate Senior Advisor Added to Bermuda Climate Summit Lineup

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UN Global Climate Senior Advisor Added to Bermuda Climate Summit Lineup

Hamilton, Bermuda, May 24, 2023 — Suzanne Johnson, Senior Advisor, United Nations (UN) Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition, is the latest addition to the impressive list of speakers at the second annual Bermuda Climate Summit, presented by the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), in partnership with KBRA.

Bermuda’s Deputy Premier, The Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP, will open the Summit on June 26 with a conversation with Jim Nadler, President & CEO, KBRA. Another luncheon keynote will be given by Joshua Rosenberg, Chief Risk Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York on June 27.

Suzanne Johnson said, “It will be a pleasure to discuss the UN Global Compact work to advance a more sustainable ocean economy at the Bermuda Climate Summit. I look forward to discussing how ocean industry and finance can help to address the climate and nature crisis with financial service executives, academics and international regulators in attendance at the summit.”

David Hart, CEO, BDA said, “We are honoured to have a leading expert like Suzanne Johnson giving a keynote at our Bermuda Climate Summit joining an already impressive line-up. It is sure to be an incredible two days of informative and collaborative discussions not just about climate related challenges, but how Bermuda is the perfect place to create and deliver innovative solutions to the global marketplace.”

We are strongly encouraging prospective delegates from overseas to secure their room and receive special rates at our event hotel, the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, by booking online prior to May 25. Click here to register – this year’s theme is: ‘Bermuda – Climate Central’.

Stay tuned to the BDA website for agenda updates– sessions confirmed to date include: Impact of a Changing Climate on Atlantic Hurricane Frequency and Severity moderated by Marla Pourrabbani, Data Scientist, Senior Manager, ESG and Sustainability, Deloitte, with panellists: Dr. Pete Dailey, Head of Research, Aeolus, Liz Henderson, Co-Head Catastrophe Analytics, Executive Managing Director, Reinsurance Solutions, Aon, Dr. Peter Sousounis, Vice President/Director Climate Change Research, Verisk, and Craig Tillman, President, RenaissanceRe Risk Sciences.

How Do You Measure Environmental Impact? will bemoderated by Barclay Palmer, Executive Editor and Head of Strategy, Climate and Capital Media, and include panellists, Kevin Cei, Climate and Weather Solutions Executive, Jupiter Intelligence, Michele DeMers, CEO, Boundless Impact Research & Analytics, and Keith Pitts, SVP, Sustainability and Regulatory Strategy, Bioceres Crop Solutions.

What’s Ahead in the United States? will be moderated by John Huff, President & CEO, Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) and include panellists, Ricardo Lara, Insurance Commissioner, California Department of Insurance, Co-Chair of the NAIC Climate and Resiliency Task Force and Lori Wing-Heier, Director, Alaska Division of Insurance, Co-Chair of the NAIC Climate and Resiliency Task Force.

ESG: Where Does the Road Go From Here? will be moderated by Victoria Harman, Founder and Principal, VL Harmon Advisors, and will include panellists, Prabh Banga, VP Sustainability, Aecon, Harry Masters, Director, Advancing Green, Caroline McGill, Principal, Sustainability, and Impact Investment Strategy, Hillbreak and Patrick Welch, Chief ESG and Ratings Policy Officer, KBRA.

Green Opportunities, an Investor’s Perspective will be moderated by Bill Cox, Global Head of Corporate, Financial and Government Ratings, KBRA, with panellists Alexandra Cooley, Chief Investment Officer, Nuveen, Andrea Griffin, Global Head of Responsible Investments Specialists, HSBC Asset Management and Steve Hatfield, US Head of ESG, Carlyle Group.

Global Climate Risk will be moderated by Jeane Nikolai, Director of Energy, Government of Bermuda, and will include panellists Dr. Mark Guishard, Chartered Meteorologist, Adjunct Scientist and Trustee, BIOS, Dr. Raveem Ismail, Head of Parametric Underwriting, Africa Specialty Risks (ASR Re) and Dr. Simon Young, Senior Director, Willis Towers Watson.

Biodiversity: Our Strongest Natural Defense Against Climate Change will be moderated by Slav Gatchev, Managing Director, Sustainable Debt, The Nature Conservancy, with panellists, Osho Jha, CEO & Co-Founder at dClimate, Co-Founder & Chief Data Scientist at Arbol Inc, James Kench, Head of Insurance, KITA, and Natalia Moudrak, Climate Resiliency Leader, AON.  

Climate and the Evolving Regulatory and Reporting Landscape will be moderated by Suzanne Williams-Charles, Director of Policy and Regulation, Corporate Secretary and Data Privacy Officer, ABIR, and feature panellists Ralf Kuerzdoerfer, Deputy Director, Supervision (Insurance), Bermuda Monetary Authority, Sohini Chowdhury, Senior Director, Moody’s Analytics, Ricardo Lara, Insurance Commissioner, California Department of Insurance and Arnaud van Dijk, Partner, ESG, KPMG.

The U.S. Federal Flood Programme and the (Re)Insurance Sector, will bemoderated by Peter Giacone, Global Head of Insurance, KBRA and include panelists, Chris Brown – Partner, Mindset, Chlora Lindley-Myers, NAIC President and Director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, and Andy Neal, Managing Director, Public Private Partnerships, Aon

Net Zero? will be moderated by Miqdaad Versi, Head of ESG, Oxbow Partners, UK, and feature panelists Rachael Dalheise. Head of Sustainability, Convex, Andrew MacFarlane, Head of Climate, AXA XL, a Division of AXA, Andrew Smith, Chief Risk and Sustainability Officer, Conduit Re and Dr. Steve Smith- Head of Research & Development, Vantage.

The Power of Partnerships, which will be moderated by Jeff Manson, SVP Underwriting and Head of Global Public Sector Partnership, Renaissance Re Ltd, and will include panellists, Ekhosuehi Iyahen, Secretary General, Insurance Development Forum, Sid Miller, Director, Climate Wise, Rebekah Clement, Head of Sustainability, Lloyds, and Chair of SMI Climate Action Committee, and Tim Nielander, Founder and President, GP3 Institute.

Deep Ocean Solutions will be moderated by William Curry, President and CEO, BIOS, and feature panelists Neil Eckert, Executive Chairman, Conduit Re, Irene Polnyi- Additional Ventures Affiliate, and Mallory Ringham, PhD Chemical Oceanography, Ebb Carbon.

The BDA is grateful for the continued support of our headline sponsor KBRA, as well as: diamond sponsor Conduit Re; platinum sponsor Aon; gold sponsors Deloitte, Fidelis and Hub Culture; and silver sponsors Aeolus, Aspen, AXA XL, Belco, and KPMG. Our supporting sponsors are Butterfield and HSBC. Our media partners are The Insurer, Insurance Insider and Bermuda:Re+ILS. Our spirits partner is Goslings. Other sponsorship opportunities are still available; please e-mail bermudaclimate@bda.bm if you wish to participate.

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