Nature-related insurance product library

Howden, the global insurance intermediary group, has placed the first-ever Carbon Credits Warranty and Indemnity (W&I) insurance policy. The policy provides insurance cover on the sale of carbon credits associated with a reafforestation project on degraded forest lands by Mere Plantations — a UK-based company that owns and operates a teak plantation in Ghana, West Africa. The policy has been underwritten by a leading managing general agent.

Political risk insurance that enabled a $500 million debt conversion for Gabon (Cabon Blue Bond) which is expected to generate $163 million in dedicated marine conservation funding over the next 15 years. The refinancing will unlock $5 million each year over the next 15 years for conservation action and create an endowment expected to grow to approximately $88 million by 2038 to fund conservation in Gabon in the future. It will improve Gabon’s debt profile, while simultaneously creating a dedicated funding stream in support of the country’s commitment to biodiversity protection and nature-based resilience through management of marine protected areas. Projects funded as a result of the Gabon Blue Bond will support marine protection and management, advance sustainable fisheries, strengthen climate resilience, and develop a sustainable blue economy for the local community.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MS&AD Group) provides insurance coverage for the risk of fire spreading during noyaki: the traditional prescribed burning of the Aso grasslands in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Noyaki has been practised for > 1,000 years across approximately 22,000 hectares of grassland within the Aso caldera, preventing forest succession and maintaining a unique semi-natural grassland ecosystem that supports around 600 rare plant and insect species, including endangered butterflies and beetles. The practice had been suspended in some areas due to concerns about fire-spread liability. MS&AD’s insurance coverage has enabled the continuation/resumption of noyaki, supporting the preservation of grassland biodiversity, carbon sequestration (the grasslands absorb 1.7x more CO₂ than all Aso households emit), water resource conservation, livestock grazing and landscape-based tourism. The product forms part of MS&AD’s broader Green Resilience strategy leveraging nature-based solutions through insurance.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MS&AD Group) launched “Forest Keeper” in 2022 as the fourth product in its series contributing to natural capital and biodiversity conservation. The product is an endorsement attached to comprehensive corporate property insurance for forestry operators, covering reforestation expenses following forest fire: costs that were previously excluded from the company’s conventional forest fire insurance. Covered expenses include site preparation, seedlings, planting, undergrowth clearing, installation of wildlife protection fencing, road network maintenance for reforestation access, and debris removal. The product is explicitly framed by MS&AD as addressing the challenge that unafforested burnt forests increase downstream landslide risk, positioning reforestation as a nature-based risk reduction measure. Payouts cover actual costs net of any government subsidies. The product forms part of MS&AD’s broader “Green Resilience” strategy integrating nature-based solutions into insurance.

RISCO is an enterprise that increases financial resilience of vulnerable coastal communities by insuring them against natural catastrophes and using insurance profits to train/fund mangrove-positive businesses. This creates a self-sustaining cycle that protects communities while increasing mangrove cover. The planned pilot in the Philippines targets 3,400 hectares of mangrove conservation and 600 hectares of restoration, providing climate benefits of > 600,000 tonnes of avoided and sequestered CO2 emissions over ten years. Revenue streams include insurance payments linked to site-specific flood reduction benefits provided by mangroves and blue carbon credits generated through Verra methodologies.

Munich Re’s Greater China Agro team partnered with China Pacific Property Insurance to launch the first parametric insurance policy for carbon storage on grasslands in Inner Mongolia in early 2022. The product addresses risks facing the region’s 87 million hectares of natural grasslands, including but not limited to natural disasters, desertification and overgrazing — all of which threaten carbon absorption capacity. The insurance uses satellite remote sensing technology for continuous monitoring of grassland conditions and is triggered based on the net primary productivity (NPP) index, a key variable for determining carbon cycling in grassland ecosystems.

In 2023, Ping An Property & Casualty launched China’s first mangrove carbon sink index insurance, providing risk protection and disaster prevention services for mangrove carbon sinks at Shenzhen’s Futian Natural Reserve. The product uses an innovative measurement method combining remote sensing, on-site sampling and quadrat surveys to reliably determine carbon sink amounts. The protection plan integrates insurance mechanisms with ecological maintenance — indexing carbon sink losses due to mangrove damage and determining compensation based on the loss of mangrove carbon sink value, with funds directed toward post-disaster ecosystem protection/recovery.

Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance has launched its first ocean carbon sink index insurance policy in Dalian, providing RMB 400,000 in carbon sink risk protection for 8866.67 square metres of kelp, shellfish, and algae. This follows the company’s 2021 pilot of forest carbon sink remote sensing index insurance and expands coverage across terrestrial and marine ecosystems including forests, mangroves, and grasslands.

The insurance provides compensation when environmental changes damage marine species and weaken carbon sink capacity, with funds directed toward post-disaster species rescue, ecological restoration, and carbon sink resource recovery. The product also enables carbon sink indicators of marine aquaculture to be listed and traded, increasing fishermen’s income by converting marine carbon sinks from resources into tradeable assets.

Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance has developed a forest carbon sink remote sensing index insurance product that uses satellite technology to monitor forestry carbon sink accumulation/growth. It enables rapid underwriting, provides regular forest growth feedback and offers scientific management recommendations. The index insurance model facilitates rapid loss determination and claim settlement following disasters, with compensation directed toward post-disaster carbon sink rescue and forest resource cultivation. The product has launched in Hebei, Guangxi and Hunan provinces, providing RMB 15.582 million in carbon sink risk protection for 130,000 mu (86.7 million square metres) of forest land.

AXA Climate, Howden, and Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas partnered in 2023 to develop a parametric business interruption insurance product protecting Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that manage vulnerable coral reef ecosystems. The product triggers compensation within days of a cyclone passing within a 50km radius, based on meteorological data from government agencies. Payouts fund debris cleanup, coral restoration, repair of MPA equipment and assets such as vessels and ranger facilities, and reimburse operating losses from reef-positive businesses including ecotourism and community-based aquaculture. The programme initially covered two sites: the Turneffe Atoll in Belize (132,000 hectares, 1,000+ fishers) and North Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines (90,000 hectares, 12,000+ fishers), with Howden financing the first year’s premiums. In October 2024, the coverage was renewed for 88 MPAs in the Philippines. Blue Alliance has also launched an impact loan facility backed by this insurance, offering early-stage financing to businesses committed to coral reef preservation and restoration.

In an era of increasing climate volatility where fishing livelihoods are at risk, ORRAA partners Rare and Willis, a WTW business, designed and launched a pioneering solution: the world’s first weather index-based parametric insurance product tailored to small-scale fishers in the Philippines.
The insurance covers lost income from prolonged adverse weather—high winds, rough seas, and heavy rain—that makes fishing unsafe. When storms or rough seas keep boats tied up, small-scale fishers lose their daily income. The new insurance product changes the equation by paying fishers to stay safely at home when conditions are too dangerous, helping families and reducing pressure on already stressed marine resources.

This project was supported by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). This project was undertaken with the financial support of the UK through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du Royaume-Uni, agissant par l’entremise du ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Alimentation et des Affaires rurales, et du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique.

Development of parametric or hybrid coral reef insurance to finance rapid reef restoration and support coastal livelihoods.

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation, has proposed a pilot livestock insurance scheme targeting farmers in the Sigiriya, Okanda, Kilinochchi, Belihuloya and Maskeliya regions. This first-of-its-kind programme offers rapid monetary compensation to farmers who lose livestock to leopard predation, aiming to protect rural livelihoods while curbing retaliatory killings of this keystone species. The broader objective is to pilot test an insurance-based approach to mitigating human-leopard conflict in Sri Lanka — a strategy that aligns with innovative conservation financing models used globally and has the potential to reduce future investment needs associated with rehabilitating threatened species.

In France, a 2016 biodiversity law introduced obligations for companies to restore damaged natural sites to baseline conditions following environmental accidents. In response, AXA XL developed an underwriting incentive within its Environmental Risk insurance policies: corporate clients that (i) commission an independent ecological assessment of nearby natural areas to establish a biodiversity baseline, and (ii) integrate the findings into their accident prevention and management plans, receive a 25% reduction in their policy deductibles. This mechanism encourages proactive biodiversity risk management by embedding nature-related criteria directly into insurance terms, improving clients’ preparedness for ecological restoration obligations while rewarding preventive action. Marsh France brokered the development of this provision. The initiative was developed with input from ACT4Nature, an alliance of French companies, academic bodies and public institutions.

The NATURANCE Innovation Lab led by CMCC designed a community-based parametric insurance product to support controlled flooding operations by water boards in Northern Italy’s Po River basin. The product would cover costs and liabilities incurred when water boards deliberately flood upstream rural land to protect downstream urban areas from more severe uncontrolled flooding.
Premiums would be financed through a proportional tribute collected from downstream beneficiaries based on existing classification plans. Land designated for controlled flooding would be converted to nature-based solutions, enhancing flood risk reduction and generating co-benefits. Next steps include additional stakeholder workshops, international applicability testing through Network Nature Labs funding, and potential pilot applications linked to reconstruction efforts in Emilia-Romagna.

DUAL has launched the first insurance product designed to support biodiversity net gain (BNG) at Highlands Rewilding’s Bunloit project in Scotland. Unlike carbon credit-focused products, this solution centres on natural capital, offering landowners assurance that their land retains economic value irrespective of biodiversity progress while enabling access to investor capital for nature initiatives. The insurance covers habitat protection/restoration and backs biodiversity and carbon units sold by covering the cost of acquiring substitute units if needed. England’s BNG market, mandated by the 2021 Environment Act requiring 10% biodiversity net gain for new developments, is projected to reach nearly £3 billion by 2035, with approximately 2,000 new planning applications submitted monthly.

Construction all-risk coverage to support the restoration of the Prince Hendrick sand dyke that protects a unique ecosystem on the Island of Texel in the Netherlands – a World Heritage Site. The project aims to prevent a major failure of the dyke due to rising sea levels, while simultaneously improving biodiversity and protecting the local community, which benefits from physical protection afforded by the dyke and income from tourism and fishing.

Respira International, a carbon finance business, partnered with insurance broker Howden and reinsurance investment manager Nephila Capital to launch the first voluntary carbon credit invalidation insurance product. The solution, incubated through the Insurance Task Force of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, provides cover against third-party negligence and fraud for books of independently verified, high-quality carbon credits. By wrapping insurance around diversified portfolios of nature-based carbon credits, including reforestation, forest conservation, soil carbon, and blue carbon projects, the product reduces risk for institutional buyers and corporate purchasers. This added layer of security is designed to increase confidence and integrity in the voluntary carbon market, enabling Respira to scale its climate solution projects and unlock new capital.

The Room to Run Sovereign program is a balance sheet optimization transaction launched at COP26, through which a US$ 2 billion guarantee provided by the UK Government (US$ 1.6 billion) and City of London insurers (US$ 400 million) enables the African Development Bank to provide up to an additional US$ 2 billion of climate finance to Africa by 2027, split between adaptation and mitigation. By assuming credit exposure on the Bank’s sovereign portfolio, the insurance guarantee unlocks lending capacity for nature-positive investments. In Benin, US$ 129 million funded climate adaptation activities including 100km of stormwater drainage infrastructure and reforestation of 17 hectares. In Tunisia, up to US$ 87 million supports climate-resilient agriculture for 250,000 cereal farmers facing water stress.

GaiaSicura is a UK-based licensed insurance broker specialising in bespoke insurance solutions for nature regeneration projects. The company works with specialist insurance markets to develop risk transfer mechanisms across the full lifecycle of nature projects, from design through establishment, offtake, and maintenance. Services span four client categories: project developers receive risk assessments, contract reviews, and comprehensive wrap-up insurance programmes; investors and credit buyers access coverage for non-delivery, counterparty risk, credit cancellation, buffer depletion, political risk, and green finance guarantees; third-party experts obtain professional indemnity insurance for errors and omissions; and nature-based solutions advisory services assist those seeking to utilise nature restoration for risk mitigation purposes such as flood control through beavers or coastal protection through mangroves.

Kita is a Lloyd’s Coverholder providing insurance and risk advisory services for carbon and natural capital markets. The company offers products addressing key risks in carbon credit transactions: Non-Delivery Insurance for credits not delivered as forecast, Counterparty Insurance for parties failing to fulfil obligations, Buffer Depletion Insurance protecting Carbon Standards’ buffers against reversal events, and Political Risk Insurance covering host country regulatory changes and CORSIA-related risks. Kita also provides risk advisory services including Buffer as a Service for Carbon Standard buffer management, Risk Assessment/Monitoring, and Portfolio as a Service for comprehensive carbon portfolio risk mitigation. The company’s approach aims to increase standards of delivery, transparency and investment in high-integrity carbon removal and nature restoration solutions.

Conservation International has partnered with Swiss Re to explore insurance as an alternative to buffer credit requirements in blue carbon markets. Blue carbon systems, including mangroves, seagrasses and saltmarshes, are the Earth’s most carbon-dense ecosystems, with carbon credits serving as a finance mechanism for coastal conservation/restoration.
Current certification processes require projects to allocate buffer credits to cover non-permanence risks, reducing tradeable credits and project funding. The proposed insurance covers loss/damage to assets such as mangroves from natural and weather-related events that reduce carbon benefits, potentially removing the need for buffer credits related to those specific risks. Project proponents would pay a premium ideally lower than the equivalent buffer credit value, with the difference unlocking greater finance for projects while allowing more credits to enter the market.

SCOR’s Nature Restoration and Conservation Insurance Initiative offers innovative reinsurance solutions supporting nature-resilient projects that address climate change, food and water security, and sustainable agriculture. The flagship Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution aims to bridge financing gaps for restoration projects by de-risking investment opportunities for public and private stakeholders.

The solution comprises three products aligned with ecosystem recovery stages: “Restore” for initial recovery implementation, “Manage” for ongoing maintenance, and “Conserve” (forthcoming) for long-term integrity preservation. Developed in collaboration with the Society for Ecological Restoration, the initiative employs a standards-based due diligence process requiring projects to achieve a minimum “A” grade to qualify for coverage across diverse terrestrial biomes.

Insurance for long-term carbon credit purchases that offers in-kind replacements in case of defaults of carbon credit sellers. A solution that helps companies secure their future carbon credit supply by insuring the provision of global carbon credits from afforestation, reforestation and revegetation projects with delivery dates up to five years in the future. The insurance of non-delivery due to natural catastrophes, weather events, and certain political risks aims to enhance confidence for carbon credit buyers in the purchase of credits on a forward contract basis and attract more private investment in nature-based climate solutions especially where there is a lag between investment and experiencing benefits.

Furthermore, by strengthening the financial trust in carbon credits acquired on a forward contract basis, the product allows the transition of activities in adopting nature-positive carbon mitigation approaches that otherwise may have been deemed as too risky.

Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK), a subsidiary of Tokio Marine, has partnered with carbon credit insurance specialist Kita to provide political risk insurance tailored for developers and investors in carbon credit projects. The product is intended to safeguard against political uncertainties that could undermine the sale and export of carbon credits.

Hiscox offers comprehensive third-party liability coverage for the decommissioning and removal of offshore assets, whether subsea or over-the-water. This cover is aimed at operators and other interests and enables them to remove end-of-life assets that could otherwise be environmentally damaging.

The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) Fund Insurance Programme, developed by MAR Fund and WTW uses parametric insurance to rapidly fund coral reef restoration following hurricane damage across the 1,000 km Mesoamerican Reef spanning Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The programme currently covers 11 protected reef sites, which collectively support over 2 million people through coastal protection, fisheries, and tourism. The parametric trigger is based on hurricane wind intensity at each site, where when wind speeds exceed predefined thresholds, stepped payouts are automatically released without the need for loss assessment, with amounts tailored to each site’s response capacity and costs. Payouts flow through MAR Fund’s Emergency Fund to pre-trained local response brigades who carry out immediate reef rescue activities. The programme is nature-positive by design: it pre-arranges financing specifically for ecosystem restoration, addresses the failure of traditional philanthropic funding to mobilise quickly enough after disasters, builds lasting local conservation capacity through its network of reef guardians, and is now being scaled across the wider Caribbean.

This project was supported by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). This project was undertaken with the financial support of the UK through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du Royaume-Uni, agissant par l’entremise du ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Alimentation et des Affaires rurales, et du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique.

Davivienda Seguros El Salvador’s Green Life Insurance (Seguro de Vida Verde) channels a part of each policy premium into community-led mangrove restoration at the Barra de Santiago Ramsar site, an 11,500-hectare protected area that has lost 60% of its mangroves over the past 50 years. Working with FUNDEMAS and GIZ, the programme funds the local women’s association AMBAS and surrounding communities to restore degraded mangrove forest. To date, 8 hectares have been restored and 26,200 mangroves planted, sequestering an estimated 1,892 tonnes of CO₂ and providing paid employment to 70 families (60% women). The restored mangroves function as nature-based coastal defences, buffering storm surge, erosion and flooding, while also supporting fisheries, water purification and local livelihoods. The product has been operational for over 12 years, with the mangrove-specific focus at Barra de Santiago running since approximately 2019. In 2025, Davivienda extended the model with a collective SME version of the product.

The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is leading the development of a regional reef insurance programme to extend this model to the wider Caribbean. Funded by the InsuResilience Solutions Fund, the programme targets coral reefs in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. CBF acts as policyholder and coordinates post-hurricane response through National Conservation Trust Funds, which distribute payouts to local reef responders. When hurricane wind speeds exceed predefined thresholds near insured sites, payouts are automatically triggered, financing rapid coral restoration to minimise long-term ecological and economic losses.

AXA Climate, AXA Seguros Mexico, and ClimateSeed developed the first parametric insurance policy for the protection of mangrove forests in Mexico, covering the San Crisanto mangrove conservation and restoration project in the Yucatán Peninsula. San Crisanto is a community of approximately 150 Mayan families whose economic activity is structured around 800 hectares of mangrove forest through restoration, conservation, carbon credit sales, and ecotourism. The community is highly vulnerable to hurricanes: in 2002, Hurricane Isidore destroyed 99% of the area’s mangroves. The parametric product triggers a payout of up to $100,000 when a hurricane passes through the insured area, with the amount varying by wind strength and proximity to the core protected area. Compensation is paid directly to the policyholder, the Ejido San Crisanto community, to support mangrove regeneration, debris cleanup, and repair of fishing and ecotourism infrastructure. The insurance premium is paid by the community through funds received from annual carbon credit sales under the Voluntary Carbon Market, creating a self-sustaining financial model. The policy has been renewed three times since its launch in 2023. The project has captured approximately 47,908 tonnes of CO₂ across four reporting periods. Mangroves also reduce the impact of coastal flooding and support biodiversity-rich ecosystems, protecting and providing for local communities.

Save The Waves is developing a parametric insurance product to insure and protect surf ecosystems and their associated tourism value. Save The Waves is safeguarding surf ecosystems from the impacts of erosion and extreme weather events due to climate change. This is being undertaken through a combination of securing protected area status for surf locations, stewardship and community activism.

Through the second cycle of the Ocean Resilience Innovation Challenge, ORRAA supported Save The Waves to develop the initial concept. With support from the Government of Canada, Save The Waves is now developing a parametric insurance product and a surf ecosystem resilience trust fund in El Salvador to compensate coastal communities for revenue loss caused by the destructive nature of storms.

This project was supported by ORRAA. This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique.

Design of parametric insurance solutions to protect investments in habitat banks. The insurance product protects against key environmental risks, such as human-wildlife conflict, rainfall anomalies, and wildfires, offering confidence to investors and project developers. By reducing uncertainty and securing biodiversity assets, the insurance strengthens habitat banks, supports ecosystem resilience, and promotes greater public-private investment in nature-based solutions.

Parametric insurance under development to protect páramo ecosystems against wildfire, linked to conservation finance and water funds.

A pilot has been launched in Comandante Andresito, the municipality with the highest number of livestock losses due to jaguars in the Province of Misiones. The policy, purchased by the provincial government from Río Uruguay Seguros, covers cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry, and pets (dogs and cats). It is provided free of charge to residents, with no deductibles. Claims are verified by Aves Argentinas, with support from Ministry of Ecology park rangers. Once an incident is confirmed, affected farmers receive compensation via a digital wallet or bank account. A support plan is also activated to help improve livestock protection and prevent future incidents. The initiative includes regular visits to assist producers in strengthening security measures and promotes broader adoption of these practices across local communities.

$610 million in political risk insurance enabled a $364 million Blue Bond for Ocean Conservation in Belize. This will generate an estimated $90 million over 20 years to invest in marine and biodiversity protection and promote climate resilience in Belize’s blue economy. The debt swap also introduced parametric catastrophe insurance to Belize’s external debt stock at a cost of about $800,000 per year on average for Belize.

This is a US$ 656 million Galápagos marine conservation-linked bond (Galápagos Marine Bond), arranged and structured by Credit Suisse in partnership with the Government of Ecuador, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Oceans Finance Company (OFC), and Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy. The bond financed a debt conversion for Ecuador, exchanging US$ 1.628 billion of the country’s international bonds for a US$ 656 million loan, with DFC providing US$ 656 million in political risk insurance and IDB supplying an US$ 85 million guarantee. A consortium of 11 private insurers, including Swiss Re, provides over fifty percent reinsurance to support the transaction. Ecuador stands to realize more than US$ 1.126 billion in lifetime savings through reduced debt service costs.

The conversion is estimated to channel US$ 323 million toward marine conservation in the Galápagos Islands over 18.5 years, comprising roughly US$ 12.05 million in new annual funding and approximately US$ 5.41 million per year on average to capitalize an endowment for the Galapagos Life Fund (GLF). This endowment is projected to exceed US$ 227 million by 2041, serving as a permanent funding source for marine conservation beyond the transaction’s term — bringing the total endowment to US$ 450 million for marine conservation.

Forest Speciality Underwriters (FSU), with capacity from Lloyd’s of London, offers a specialised liability insurance programme for parties planning or conducting prescribed burns across the United States. Prescribed fire is a proven nature-based land management tool that reduces wildfire risk by lowering fuel loads while also recycling nutrients, controlling invasive species and improving wildlife habitat.

However, liability concerns, particularly under strict liability statutes in some states, have been a major barrier to scaling its use. FSU’s programme covers third-party bodily injury, property damage, defence costs, fire suppression expenses (up to US$ 10,000/day, US$ 100,000 aggregate), pollution, smoke-related incidents and professional liability up to US$ 1 million. Eligible applicants include prescribed fire contractors, conservation organisations, foresters, government agencies, landowner cooperatives and fire protection organisations. Underwriting criteria require 3-5 years of experience or certification and submission of a sample burn plan. The product launched in January 2023 and is available nationwide except California, Oregon and Washington.

Marsh placed a carbon credit delivery insurance policy, underwritten by CFC, for Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon removal developer that plants native hardwood/softwood trees on unused farmland across the southeastern United States. The policy protects against the risk of non-delivery of carbon removal credits under a 25-year offtake agreement with Microsoft for > 7 million tonnes. The insurance was mandated by the lending panel as a condition of a landmark US$ 210 million non-recourse project finance credit facility led by J.P. Morgan. By de-risking the carbon credit revenue stream, the insurance directly enabled financing for the acquisition/restoration of roughly 60,000 acres and the planting of > 35 million native trees. This represents the first such project financing in the voluntary carbon market and establishes a replicable model for channelling institutional capital into large-scale afforestation.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture Cover Crop Premium Discount Program promotes additional acres of cover crops not covered by other state and federal program incentives. Eligible applicants receive a premium discount up to $5 per acre on the following year’s crop insurance for every cover crop acre enrolled and verified in the program. The inaugural season resulted in an additional 50,000 acres of cover crops planted, with 70% of applicants identified as planting cover crops for the first time.

The 2025-2026 program will fund up to 190,000 acres, with 40,000 acres funded by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency via Gulf Hypoxia Funding. Illinois is one of the leading contributors to the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, a barren area of around 4,500 square miles deadly to fish, shrimp and other marine life. The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy recognises cover crops as one of the most effective in-field management strategies to stem the loss of nitrate-nitrogen and total phosphorus from corn-soybean fields.

FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive programme that recognises and rewards community floodplain management practices exceeding the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Over 1,500 communities participate nationwide, earning flood insurance premium discounts of 5% to 45% based on credit points for activities across four categories: public information, mapping and regulations, flood damage reduction, and flood preparedness.

Critically, the CRS awards substantial credit points for open space preservation (Activity 420), where communities preserve floodplains as natural areas free from development. Preserving floodplain open space allows ecosystems to perform natural functions including storing floodwaters, providing habitat, and reducing flood risk. Communities can earn up to nearly 2,000 points for open space preservation alone, with additional credits for deed-restricted parcels, natural shoreline protection, wetland habitat preservation, and low-density zoning in floodplains. This creates a direct financial incentive linking nature-based solutions to reduced insurance costs for property owners.

The Nature Conservancy and WTW have launched a first-of-its-kind wildfire resilience insurance policy that accounts for forest fire mitigation efforts, structured for Tahoe Donner Association in Truckee, California. The $2.5 million coverage, developed in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, demonstrates that ecological forest practices such as tree thinning and prescribed burns can reduce insurance costs. The policy covering 1,345 acres of forested and recreation land achieved a 39% lower premium and 89% lower deductible compared to properties without nature-based forest management. Globe Underwriting provided empirical analysis supporting the risk reduction assessment, offering a model for addressing California’s insurance crisis amid widespread policy non-renewals.

Great American Insurance Group specialises in bonds and insurance for conservation and ecological restoration projects. The company underwrites performance bonds and insurance policies that meet financial assurance requirements of federal and state regulators including the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and state environmental agencies. Covered activities include stream and river restoration, wetland restoration, riparian restoration, habitat preservation, native species planting, and invasive species removal. The company serves mitigation banks, permittee-responsible mitigation, in-lieu fee programmes, and conservation banks, with limits tied to performance milestones rather than calendar dates.

Ecosystems Insurance Associates provides insurance and surety bonds to guarantee performance standards for wetlands and stream restoration projects required under U.S. regulations. Coverage extends to nutrient credit banks, conservation banks, permittee-responsible mitigation, natural resource damage assessment restoration and pay-for-performance contracts including but not limited to flood control, coastal resilience and other regulated ecosystem restoration.

Terrafirma is a risk retention group established by the Land Trust Alliance in 2011 to help land trusts defend conserved lands against legal challenges. Land Trusts face a range of risks including but not limited to trespassing, successors not wanting to conserve nature, property developers or IRS scrutiny. Legal defence costs can surpass US$ 1 million in some cases, yet only 4% of land trusts can fund an appeal > US$ 150,000. Terrafirma operates a pooled risk-insurance model across member lend trusts for financial protection against litigation costs, professional support and risk prevention. This collective approach aims to strengthen donor/regulatory confidence in land trusts’ ability to uphold permanent conservation commitments.

Hawai’i’s new policy covers all reefs across the main Hawaiian islands, covering an area of 314,976 square miles. It covers both hurricanes and tropical storms given the latter’s frequency in Hawai’i. The maximum payout total is $2 million over the year-long policy period, and $1 million per storm, underwritten and provided by Munich Re. The minimum payout has doubled to $200,000, an amount that enables a more meaningful post-storm response. The policy is triggered when tropical storm winds of 50 knots or greater occur in the core of the coverage area. In the event of a storm, the predetermined disbursed amount is distributed with advice from TNC as well as the Division of Aquatic Resources to enable quick damage assessment and repair.

This is a parametric insurance policy purpose-built for Fiji’s Lau island communities, offering pay-outs of up to US$ 450,000 for reef restoration and community assistance in the event of a cyclone. The community assistance component is designed to alleviate pressures on overharvesting of corals.