SCOR launches its second Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution Product: “Manage”

We are pleased to confirm the launch of the second product for our Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution, “Manage”, which was announced this morning by Jean-Paul Conoscente (CEO of SCOR P&C) in his welcome speech kicking off SCOR’s Innovation Days in Paris.

With many ecosystems rapidly declining and even at risk of collapse, there is now a greater understanding that healthy ecosystems are crucial, and a greater awareness that ecological restoration requires major financing — ensuring ecosystem integrity and resilience has become an international priority. However, factors like the inherent unpredictability of ecosystems mean that there can be some reluctance in this regard.

To address this issue, SCOR developed the unique, scalable and impact assessment-based Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution as part of its NatReCo Initiative, which offers pro-active, innovative (re)insurance solutions to support nature-resilient projects that address societal challenges. The Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution aims to support ecological restoration projects whose planned recovery trajectories have been adversely impacted by pre-defined perils, giving them a greater prospect of completion. By de-risking financing opportunities, this Solution bridges the “gap” between the need and the desire to finance ecological restoration projects.

SCOR launched both the NatReCo Initiative and the Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution with the launch of the “Restore” product in May 2024. Restore covers the phase of the ecological restoration project which focuses on the implementation of the conditions for recovery, in line with the project plan.

The “Manage” product marks the next evolution of the Ecological Restoration Insurance Solution. It covers the ongoing management phase of a project, which focuses on maintaining and improving the conditions for recovery that have been implemented. This allows the ecosystem integrity level to continue to increase, which in turn lowers the vulnerability level. While they naturally complement one another, both Restore and Manage are also standalone products, depending on where a stakeholder is in the project timeline.

“At SCOR, we understand that an ecological restoration project can take years to complete, and that the level of risk changes throughout the project. That is why we have developed, and will continue to develop, products which we believe will appropriately support stakeholders on their project journey and which reflect the risks their project is facing,” said Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR P&C.

The Manage product adopts the same features as Restore, including the standards-based approach developed by SCOR in collaboration with the international non-profit organization the Society for Ecological Restoration (“SER”). SER rates the “quality” of a project to make sure that SCOR only insures projects which advance ecological restoration and commit to integrity and transparency. SCOR will also engage SER-certified practitioners globally to support the claims evaluation process.

In bringing this second insurance product to market, SCOR’s own internal experts are supported by a diverse group of advisers with decades of technical experience in this field, including a Chair Emeritus, IUCN, Commission on Education and Communication; a Climate Smart Agriculture Expert & Entrepreneur; a former CEO of NatureServe, a spinoff of The Nature Conservancy; an Executive Director of SER and International Policy Lead at SER; a Chair Emeritus, IUCN, World Commission on Protected Areas; a former Senior Partner of an international law firm; and a Senior Conservation Scientist.