California Launches Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance Commission

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara created a commission to examine how biodiversity and ecosystem health affect disaster risk, insurance markets and economic security.

Dubbed the California Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance, the commission is designed to bring together representatives from insurance, finance, conservation, academia, Indigenous communities, engineering, climate adaptation and public policy.

The commission plans to develop recommendations on how insurers, regulators, investors and policymakers can account for the role natural systems like forests, wetlands and watersheds in reducing losses and strengthening resilience, according to an announcement from the California Department of Insurance.

Its work will also examine how biodiversity and ecosystem health influence risk.

The commission includes representatives from First Nations, the Karuk Tribe, Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund and the CDI.