Commissioner Lara launches first-in-the-nation Green Ribbon Commission on nature, biodiversity and insurance

News: 2026 Press ReleaseFor Release: October 26, 2026Media Calls Only: 916-492-3566Email Inquiries: cdipress@insurance.ca.gov SACRAMENTO, Calif.— As governments, financial institutions, scientists, Indigenous leaders, and policymakers gather in Yerevan, Armenia, for the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today announced the creation of theCalifornia Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to better understand how biodiversity and ecosystem health influence risk, economic security, and the future of insurance. The Commission positions California at the forefront of an emerging global conversation regarding biodiversity, risk, and the future of insurance. Its creation reflects California's commitment to helping shape a growing understanding that biodiversity is increasingly relevant to disaster risk, insurance affordability and availability, and long-term market stability. The announcement comes at a pivotal moment. CBD COP17 marks the first global review of progress toward implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the international roadmap to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. As governments assess progress and identify pathways for implementation, global institutions are increasingly recognizing that healthy ecosystems help reduce losses, strengthen resilience, and support economic prosperity. As climate pressures intensify and disaster losses grow, biodiversity is becoming increasingly relevant to the risks insurers, businesses, and communities must manage. The health of forests, wetlands, watersheds, and other natural systems increasingly influences the frequency, severity, and cost of disasters. The Green Ribbon Commission will bring together leaders in insurance, biodiversity science, conservation, Indigenous stewardship, finance, climate adaptation, engineering, and public policy to develop practical recommendations that advance understanding of these emerging connections and identify opportunities to better integrate nature into risk management and insurance decision-making. "For generations, biodiversity and insurance were treated as separate conversations. The reality is that they are becoming increasingly connected. Healthy ecosystems reduce risk, protect communities, strengthen economic security, and influence the future availability and affordability of insurance,” saidCommissioner Lara. “As the world gathers at COP17 to chart the future of biodiversity, California is launching a first-of-its-kind effort to better understand the role nature plays in managing risk. Through this Commission, we intend not only to participate in the global conversation surrounding biodiversity and insurance, but to help define it. The future of resilience, insurability, and economic security will increasingly depend on the health of the natural systems that protect us." Recent work by the United Nations and the global insurance sector has highlighted how healthy ecosystems can reduce risk and strengthen resilience, while ecosystem degradation can amplify losses and increase systemic risk. The Commission will examine how insurers, investors, regulators, and policymakers can better account for nature's protective value while improving long-term economic and insurance outcomes. Commissioner Lara also releasedNature's Balance Sheet: Biodiversity, Risk, and the Future of Insurance, the Founding Vision of the California Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance. The publication outlines California's framework for understanding the relationship between biodiversity, risk, economic security, and the future of insurance. As the world's fourth-largest economy, California faces some of the most significant climate-related risks in the world while also possessing extraordinary ecological diversity. Its forests, wetlands, watersheds, coastlines, and other natural systems play a vital role in reducing disaster risk and supporting economic stability. Throughout his tenure, Commissioner Lara has championed efforts to modernize insurance regulation, address climate-related challenges, and strengthen market resilience. The Green Ribbon Commission represents the next evolution of that work and positions California at the forefront of an emerging field that seeks to better understand the relationship between biodiversity, risk, and insurance. The Commission brings together leaders from Indigenous communities, academia, conservation organizations, insurance, finance, and state government, including representatives from First Nations, the Karuk Tribe, Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, the California Department of Insurance, and other leading institutions. Together, the Commission will examine how biodiversity and ecosystem health influence risk, identi