As the Insurance Development Forum marks its 10th anniversary, it is an opportune moment to reflect on how collaboration between the public and private sectors has reshaped the global approach to risk, resilience and sustainable development. A leader who has been instrumental in this journey is Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven, Managing Director of GIZ and member of the IDF Steering Committee, who has played a pivotal role in advancing partnerships at the intersection of development cooperation, climate resilience and insurance. In this interview, Ingrid shares her reflections on the first decade of the IDF’s evolution — from the ambition behind the landmark Tripartite Agreement between IDF, UNDP and BMZ, to the growing influence of risk analytics and pre-arranged finance in international policy debates — and looks ahead to the role development institutions and the private sector must play together in closing protection gaps, in the years to come.
You played a key role in shaping the Tripartite Agreement between the IDF, UNDP, and BMZ; what inspired this partnership, and what were your ambitions for it when it was first conceived? In your experience, what factors have been critical to its success, and what lessons could other international initiatives draw from it?
My warm congratulations to the IDF on its 10th anniversary – a remarkable milestone for a remarkable alliance.
When we launched the Tripartite Agreement between the IDF, UNDP, and BMZ in 2019, the motivation was clear: climate and disaster risks were rising faster than conventional, largely ex-post and publicly funded development responses could address them, and the need for scalable, collaborative solutions had therefore become increasingly urgent. By then, annual climate- and disaster-related losses already amounted to roughly USD 150 to 200 billion globally. At the same time, evidence showed that every US dollar invested in prevention, risk reduction and pre-arranged finance could avoid up to ten US dollars in future damages or emergency response costs.
As Director-General at BMZ at the time and as member of the German delegation for the G7 Summit in Heiligendamm and the COP 21 in Paris, I had worked closely with the insurance industry and recognised the unique potential of the IDF – which had by then matured into a coherent global platform and a landmark alliance of public and private actors – to mobilise private-sector risk expertise for development impact at scale. Our ambition was to move beyond isolated engagements with the insurance industry and establish a long-term mechanism that could systematically unlock risk analytics, technical expertise and innovative insurance solutions for vulnerable countries.
What has made the Tripartite Agreement successful is a combination of factors: a strong shared purpose; effective use of multi-stakeholder networks; public-sector flexibility to enable innovation; and private-sector patience, recognising that sustainable development does not always generate immediate returns. The core lesson is that impactful partnerships require trust, ambition and a willingness for all actors to step beyond their institutional comfort zones.
From the standpoint of development cooperation, how has engagement with the private insurance and risk management community, through the IDF, shifted or strengthened approaches to resilience and financial protection?
In our daily work at GIZ, we actively address the growing need for tailored, quantitative risk analysis, access to financial services for a wide range of stakeholders, and mechanisms to cope with increasing climate risks. Beyond concrete development projects, I am pleased to see how the IDF has helped anchor the importance of advanced risk analytics as well as pre-arranged finance in international agendas and COP discussions. The international community was facing a growing debate on how to better address the extreme impacts of the climate crisis and the provoked financial losses. The cooperation with the insurance industry enabled, through advanced risk analysis, putting “a price tag” on obvious underfunding of resilience and risk preparedness.
Against this backdrop, I am convinced that both the Tripartite Agreement and the Global Risk Modelling Alliance are important initiatives to support governments and communities in strengthening risk understanding and developing comprehensive risk management strategies. Both initiatives have expanded risk knowledge and enabled tangible risk transfer solutions in regions and sectors that have not necessarily been on the radar of the global (re-)insurance industry. Furthermore, the IDF plays a crucial role in fostering dialogue between the private insurance and the development cooperation communities by providing a forum for exchange and joint action.
As the IDF enters its next decade, how do you envision the role of development institutions like GIZ evolving in partnership with the private sector to close protection gaps and scale up pre-arranged finance?
When we talk about insurability – a priority topic for the IDF – the shared interests of development institutions and the insurance industry become evident. Against the background of increasing climate impacts, sustainable development needs resilient communities and businesses. In the long run, maintaining insurability and ensuring affordable insurance are only possible in combination with comprehensive risk reduction measures. With our long-standing local networks and experience in implementing impactful risk reduction measures as well as strong expertise in creating enabling environments with our partners, GIZ remains committed to the IDF and its vision for the years ahead.
Challenging times call for creative solutions. Scaling pre-arranged finance requires investment from both the private and public sectors. GIZ is a trusted and experienced implementing partner for governmental entities and third-party donors alike, including prominent international funds. In line with the IDF’s strategic priority to diversify funding, GIZ offers its exceptional expertise to explore new formats for cooperation and meaningful partnerships with public and private partners. Jointly, we have a unique chance to make a difference – more needs to be done to convince policy makers to incorporate insurance solutions more systematically into climate crisis response programs.
The message is clear – the IDF can be proud of its achievements over the past decade, but we cannot rest on our past successes. Together, we need to remain committed in our efforts towards global resilience, delivering tangible results for the people and businesses in EMDEs that are particularly affected by the climate crisis.
