Foreword
The inspiring but sobering challenge ahead
Steven Weinstein, chairman of the Bermuda Business Development Agency, shares his reflections on the inaugural Bermuda Climate Summit.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to thank, again, the delegates, speakers, panellists, roundtable participants, sponsors and team members who made the inaugural Bermuda Climate Summit, presented by the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), a rousing success.
The Summit, held May 23–24 in Bermuda, laid a foundation for future events and, even more importantly, results-oriented collaboration to reduce climate risk and to foster investment and innovation in climate transition and adaptation.
It is rare to see an event three or four times oversubscribed for attendance. And this is even more true as individuals and organisations are weaning themselves from pandemic-driven travel restrictions. But the outpouring of requests for a finite number of seats was an early affirmation of the enthusiasm for the BDA’s Climate Summit. And the event itself exceeded expectations.
We were grateful to have had some of the world’s leading thinkers, entrepreneurs and public leaders join us to share their expertise and, in many cases, issue urgent calls to action. Among the organisations represented were the United Nations and its Capital Development Fund; the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis of the US House of Representatives; the Federal Insurance Office of the US Treasury Department; the Insurance Development Forum, Arizona State University (ASU) and the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences, and some of the most significant players from traditional players in re/insurance and from-technology driven innovators.
Our audience was treated to keynote remarks from Bermuda’s Deputy Premier, The Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP; the president of ASU, Michael Crowe; the chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation, Collin O’Mara, and the contributions of dozens of experts across diverse panels and discussion breakouts.
“It will take an all-hands-on-deck approach to foster climate risk mitigation.”
Steven Weinstein, BDA
Bending the curve
The Summit was inspiring but also sobering. Leading scientists and practitioners, such as Peter Schlosser, ASU professor of global futures, and renowned climate model innovator Karen Clark, shared clear-eyed assessments of current risks as well as exciting technological, business and public policy innovations to help bend the curve of those risks.
It was a privilege to showcase Bermuda’s beautiful natural environment—sustained by four centuries of prescient lawmaking and Bermudian cultural mores—and our advantageous platform for business innovation.
The scale of the climate challenges we all face is so immense, and the challenges so holistic, that it will take an all-hands-on-deck approach to foster climate risk mitigation. But one takeaway of our Climate Summit is that Bermuda is well positioned to play a central, collaborative role in that movement.
In closing, I’d like to salute the BDA team, and our lead sponsors and friends at KBRA and the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, who helped us create an important, new annual event on the global climate calendar. Thank you, too, to our media partner at the Climate Summit, Bermuda:Re+ILS.
Prepare to mark your calendar for the next Bermuda Climate Summit, presented by the BDA, to be held in the fall of 2023. But don’t wait until then to visit Bermuda and explore ways to collaborate with players in our market, or simply visit and permit its natural beauty to help you recharge from our current challenges. We look forward to seeing, supporting and working with you.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com / palidachan
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