Michel M. Liès (pictured), chairman of Zurich Insurance Group, has become steering committee chair of the Insurance Development Forum, which is a public/private partnership for the insurance industry whose members include the United Nations and the World Bank.

Liès, succeeds Denis Duverne, chairman of the board at Axa, who has been IDF steering committee chair since September 2018.

Liès said: “The IDF has made an outstanding policy and operational impact in recent years, delivering the first three country programmes under the Tripartite Agreement, as well as significant mobilisation of new resources in support of the climate and disaster risk financing agenda.”

He added: “While some countries have increased their resilience to climate change, the urgency of the climate crisis calls for much greater speed. This creates a critical role for advocacy about the importance of risk management and insurance in supporting development.

“In addition, the need for effective cross-sector collaboration to deliver meaningful change has never been more important and this must be a key priority in the immediate term.”

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