Climate Strategy: Resilient Communities

As part of an ongoing effort to enhance public awareness about the need for effective adaptation strategies to reduce losses related to natural disasters, Travelers supports and participates in research, advocacy and education. Travelers sponsors the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the BuildStrong Coalition, Habitat for Humanity^®, SBP and the Wharton Risk Center to promote stronger building codes and more resilient communities and to influence industry standards and best practices. We participate on the board of IBHS, an independent, nonprofit scientific research organization supported by the insurance industry. IBHS translates top-tier research into action to strengthen homes and businesses, inform the insurance industry and increase community resiliency. Over the last decade, IBHS has identified gaps through full-scale laboratory testing at its state-of-the-art facility and has influenced changes to existing building code standards and best practices to mitigate potential losses. Through our research partnership with IBHS, we have gained a better understanding of severe wind, hail and fire impacts on building engineering standards and have incorporated these insights into our underwriting and pricing methodologies.

We also participate on the board of the BuildStrong Coalition, a group composed of national business and consumer organizations, companies and emergency management officials. BuildStrong is dedicated to advocating for federal government legislation and incentivizing state adoption and enforcement of building codes to protect property, save lives and reduce loss costs.

Following enactment of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act in 2018, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed a new pre-disaster mitigation program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). Through this program, FEMA provides federal funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for mitigation activities. For Fiscal Year 2021, FEMA was authorized to distribute up to $1 billion in BRIC funding. Long a priority for Travelers and the BuildStrong Coalition, FEMA now can provide states and localities with dedicated pre- and post-disaster funding opportunities that will save lives and help communities reduce the future costs of natural disasters by helping homeowners fortify their homes using IBHS-proven technologies. State and federal funding for resiliency efforts is essential. According to a National Institute of Building Sciences study, for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation, the United States can save $6 in future disaster costs. In these ways, we are advocating for our communities, which we believe is good for our customers, for the communities in which we live and work and for creating shareholder value over time.