Leading reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor
Aon Benfield has augmented the World Bank’s newest tool that supports disaster risk reduction and preparedness.
Impact Forecasting,
Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, has incorporated its latest earthquake data into ThinkHazard!, an online tool produced by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and housed under the World Bank.
ThinkHazard! enables development specialists to determine the possibilities of eight natural hazards occurring and what actions should be taken increase disaster resiliency.
The earthquake hazard data supplied to ThinkHazard! is derived from Aon Benfield’s catastrophe models and shows the probability of earthquake shaking across each of the 31 countries covered.
The data is aggregated to administrative units, labelled as high, medium and low hazard, and linked to recommendations of how to reduce risk.
“The insurance industry has traditionally focused on how we effectively react and pay claims following a disaster – using insights from catastrophe models to help prepare,” said Impact Forecasting global head Adam Podlaha.
“Now, we have the opportunity with the World Bank to help risk reduction specialists to plan ahead,” he added.
Enhanced by Aon’s earthquake data, ThinkHazard! “will get natural disaster information into the hands of people who really need to know,” according to Alanna Simpson, senior disaster risk management specialist and leader of GFDRR's innovation lab.
"This tool, developed alongside our partners over the last two years, provides a one-stop-shop to inform users on the hazards within their geographic area and how to make their project resilient throughout project design and implementation,” Simpson said.
