Commissioner Lara launches first-in-the-nation Green Ribbon Commission on nature, biodiversity and insurance
News: 2026 Press Release
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 the California 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,” said Commissioner 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."
A New Conversation About Risk
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 released Nature'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.
Why California
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.
Founding Commissioners
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, identify opportunities for nature-based risk reduction, explore the role of Indigenous stewardship in resilience planning, and develop recommendations that strengthen both ecological and economic outcomes.
“The insurance industry is uniquely positioned to shift markets toward nature-positive investment and risk practices,” said Dave Kuhn, World Wildlife Fund. “By aligning insurance products and capital flows with ecosystem protection and restoration, we can reduce risk at the source. This Commission will help unlock that potential.”
“For Indigenous peoples, the relationship with land, water, and the living world is foundational,” said Don Hankins, Miwok Practitioner. “Our communities carry generations of knowledge about how to steward ecosystems in ways that sustain life and reduce harm. I am honored to contribute this perspective as the Commission works to ensure that nature, people, and cultural wisdom are woven into solutions that protect all communities while also addressing biodiversity conservation and climate solutions.”
About the CA Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance
The California Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance was established by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to examine the relationship between ecosystem health, biodiversity, risk reduction, insurance markets, and economic security. The Commission will develop practical recommendations that advance understanding of how nature influences risk while identifying opportunities to strengthen resilience, support biodiversity, and improve long-term economic outcomes.
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Media note:
- Nature's Balance Sheet: Biodiversity, Risk, and the Future of Insurance, the Founding Vision of the California Green Ribbon Commission on Nature, Biodiversity and Insurance.
Led by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the California Department of Insurance is the consumer protection agency for the nation's largest insurance marketplace and safeguards all of the state’s consumers by fairly regulating the insurance industry. Under the Commissioner’s direction, the Department uses its authority to protect Californians from insurance rates that are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, oversee insurer solvency to pay claims, set standards for agents and broker licensing, perform market conduct reviews of insurance companies, resolve consumer complaints, and investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. Consumers are urged to call 1-800-927-4357 with any questions or contact us at www.insurance.ca.gov via webform or online chat. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800-927-4357. Teletypewriter (TTY), please dial 800-482-4833.
