Allianz Climate Risk Award: Designing Resilience for a Warming World

Celebrating its ninth year, Allianz Re presented the Allianz Climate Risk Award on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, to three exceptional academic researchers in the field of climate risk. This year’s winner is Diego Altafini from Cardiff University, who presented his research on "The Syntax of Vulnerability: Decoding Flood Impacts in Urban Networks for Decision-Support and Climate Adaptation."

Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO of Allianz Reinsurance, underscores the importance of scientific research in addressing climate change: "The scientists we celebrate with the Allianz Climate Risk Award help to shift our focus from isolated events to interconnected systems, proving that resilience isn't just measurable – it is designable and precisely targetable."

From left: Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance; Shagun Garg, University of Cambridge; Diego Altafini, Cardiff University; Mitchell Anderson von der University of Canterbury; Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, LMU Munich

From left: Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance; Shagun Garg, University of Cambridge; Diego Altafini, Cardiff University; Mitchell Anderson von der University of Canterbury; Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, LMU Munich
The 2025 finalists invited to present their work in front of a jury included Mitchell Anderson from the University of Canterbury, who shared insights on "Revealing Functional Isolation in a Climate-Challenged World", and Shagun Garg of the University of Cambridge, who presented his research on "Advancing Flood and Water Risk Monitoring in Arid Regions using Satellites and Machine Learning."
From left: Piril Kadibesegil, Piril Kadibesegil, Head of Sustainability, Allianz Trade; Florence Lecoutre, Member of the Executive Board, Allianz Trade; Guglielmo Zappalà, Harvard University; Inès Essombe Edimo, Sustainability Analyst, Allianz Trade

From left: Piril Kadibesegil, Piril Kadibesegil, Head of Sustainability, Allianz Trade; Florence Lecoutre, Member of the Executive Board, Allianz Trade; Guglielmo Zappalà, Harvard University; Inès Essombe Edimo, Sustainability Analyst, Allianz Trade

This year, Allianz Trade joined the Allianz Climate Risk Award, expanding the award’s scope with a new category dedicated to research on the links between climate change, extreme weather events, and global trade. The inaugural winner of the Allianz Trade Award is Guglielmo Zappalà from Harvard University, recognized for his work on "Heat Shocks Move Through Supply Chains," which provides vital insights into how climate-induced heat shocks impact global supply chains. “Climate change already affects the normal functioning of businesses and global trade at large,” says Piril Kadibesegil, Head of Sustainability, Allianz Trade. “We have been working on integrating climate risk intelligence into our underwriting and credit risk assessment. The research we support through the Allianz Climate Risk Award will contribute greatly our efforts.”

Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance, emphasizes why exchange with the scientific community is so important: "The challenges of climate risk are complex. Only by working together can we turn scientific insights into actionable solutions."

Allianz Re acts as the Center of Competence for Natural Perils for the Allianz Group, providing expertise, tools, and analytics along the entire (re)insurance value chain to optimize the Allianz Group’s exposure to natural perils.

The annual Allianz Climate Risk Award recognizes the work of ten scientists, of which three are selected to present their work to an interdisciplinary jury that includes experts from in- and outside of Allianz for a final ranking and a monetary award.

 From left: Supriya Krishnan, winner of the 2024 Allianz Climate Risk Award; Emilia Macarie, Allianz Group Sustainability Officer; Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance; Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, LMU München; Markus Stowasser, Global Head of Catastrophe Risk Management, Allianz Reinsurance; Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance

From left: Supriya Krishnan, winner of the 2024 Allianz Climate Risk Award; Emilia Macarie, Allianz Group Sustainability Officer; Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance; Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, LMU München; Markus Stowasser, Global Head of Catastrophe Risk Management, Allianz Reinsurance; Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance

The jury for the 2025 Allianz Climate Risk Award included Emilia Macarie, Allianz Group Sustainability Officer, Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, CEO Allianz Reinsurance, Sibylle Steimen, Managing Director Advisory & Services, Allianz Reinsurance, Markus Stowasser, Global Head of Catastrophe Risk Management, Allianz Reinsurance, Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig, Chair of Geography and Geographical Remote Sensing, and Supriya Krishnan, winner of the 2024 Allianz Climate Risk Award.
A compendium featuring essays by all ten finalists can be downloaded here.
Allianz Climate Risk Award 2025 Compendium
Elizabeth Goetze
Allianz SE Reinsurance

Last updated: March 31, 2026

The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers, active in almost 70 countries and serving around 97 million private and corporate customers*. Our customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, including property, life and health insurance, as well as assistance services, credit and global business insurance. Recognized for the seventh consecutive year as the number one global insurance brand in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2025 ranking, Allianz’s success is built on technology-enabled customer centricity – providing peace of mind, protection, and prevention for our customers and strengthening the resilience of individuals, communities, and societies. We are one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 770 billion euros on behalf of our insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 2.0 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of environmental and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, Allianz received an MSCI ESG Rating of AAA (as of March 2026). In 2025, our 156,000 dedicated employees achieved a total business volume of 186.9 billion euros and an operating profit of 17.4 billion euros for our shareholders.

* As of December 31, 2025. Customer count reflects Allianz customers in consolidated entities that are part of the customer reporting scope only

 

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