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."

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."

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.

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.