Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance

Formerly known as the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance is funded by the Z Zurich Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by various members of the Zurich Insurance Group.

Concern has been working with the Z Zurich Foundation as part of the Alliance for the past six years at a global and local level in Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi and South Sudan. 

After more than a decade of experience working with communities to measure and then increase their flood resilience, reaching more than three million people, the Alliance is beginning to expand its approach into additional climate hazards, including extreme heat and wildfires.

To learn more about the impact of extreme heat, and how Concern and the Alliance will work with communities affected by heatwaves, click here.

The knowledge and approaches we have developed through this work are applicable to other climate hazards. We believe that the only way to increase community resilience at scale is to take a systems approach – one that recognizes the wider spectrum of climate challenges that must be addressed.

The work we do in each country varies depending on the nature of the existing levels of climate resilience, the nature of the climate hazard(s) and local and national policy environments.

As part of this partnership, the Z Zurich Foundation is providing multi-annual funding for Concern’s climate resilience work in Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi and Pakistan. 

This partnership goes beyond a financial contribution. Funding comes through the Z Zurich Foundation, but Zurich Insurance Group is also a partner in the Alliance. In addition to providing insurance protection, Zurich offers prevention services such as those that promote wellbeing and enhance climate resilience. Zurich has been an active member in the Alliance since 2012, providing skills and expertise. This helps communities to reduce the devastating impacts of climate change.

This is in synergy with Concern’s approach to community resilience building of which disaster risk reduction is the foundation and a cornerstone of our approach to sustainable community-led solutions.

Alongside our partners in the Alliance, we aim to positively impact the lives of 5.5 million people by 2027, and 70 million people by 2035.

1. Enhance and increase the resilience of urban and rural communities to climate hazards. 

2. Promote the widespread adoption of good climate resilience practices. 

3. Increase the funding available for communities to improve their climate resilience. 

4. Improve the policy environment for building community resilience to climate hazards.