Zurich announces five-year alliance with Red Cross for flood resilience program

Zurich Insurance Group has announced a five-year partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the company putting 21 million Swiss francs (roughly $22.7 million) into the alliance. 

The partnership is part of Zurich’s global flood resilience program, aimed at finding new ways to increase the impact of disaster risk reduction efforts at the community, national and global levels. The first country program will be in Mexico, Zurich said.

“Combining the risk expertise of Zurich with the deep disaster preparedness expertise of the IFRC in this alliance – one of the largest private sector co-operations of the Federation – will help to achieve a significant impact on communities at risk from floods and will help reduce devastating impacts,” noted Bekele Geleta, secretary general of the IFRC.

The flood resilience program is embedded within the company’s General Insurance business. “Floods are expected to have a growing impact due to natural factors, such as the increase in extreme rainfall events and rising sea levels, and man-made factors such as population growth and the number of homes and businesses in areas exposed to flooding,” noted Mike Kerner, CEO of Zurich General Insurance.

“At the same time we believe that there is too little emphasis on pre-event flood mitigation, as opposed to post-event flood relief,” he added. “This is a gap that Zurich can help fill because we have relevant risk management and insurance expertise.”

The program will focus on building knowledge and expertise on flood resilience, through partnerships with the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations and in academia. The Z Zurich Foundation, a part of the company’s corporate responsibility efforts, and the organizations it works with also play an important role, the company noted.

The foundation will be contributing 21 million Swiss francs over five years to the program, while Zurich employees with relevant skills are also expected to invest an average of 500 working days per year in the alliance, Zurich said.