Wildfires, Climate Change, Risk, and Insurance

The destruction wrought by the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires is estimated to cost at least $250 billion, with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people affected. Two months on, what lessons can be taken? How can this natural disaster be put into context where climate change will make these events more regular and likely? This discussion will feature a panel of experts on wildfires, insurance, and natural disasters. Multiple themes will be discussed, including:

• wildfire risk, under both climate change and at the wildland urban interface (WUI)
• insurance, finance, and risk in this new environment
• disaster preparedness/resilience, response, and recovery

Refreshments will follow the discussion.

Co-sponsored by the Duke Center on Risk in Science and Society and Duke RESILE.

• Branda Nowell, Professor, and University Faculty Scholar, School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University
• Francis Bouchard, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Nicholas Institute for Environment, Energy & Sustainability,
  Duke University; Managing Director for Climate for Marsh McLennan, and Vice Chair of InnSure (insurance and financing for climate risks)
• Brian McAdoo, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Earth and Climate Science, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Moderator: Jianna Torre, Master of Forestry Candidate ('25), Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University; Co-president of the Duke Chapter for the Society of American Foresters