Climate Week Zurich: How one of the world's largest insurers is building climate resilience

All Things Sustainable is the official podcast of the inaugural Climate Week Zurich taking place May 4-9, and all week we're bringing you special daily episodes from Zurich.

In our third episode of the week, we're talking to Zurich Insurance Chief Sustainability Officer Linda Freiner. Zurich Insurance is one of the world's largest insurers, serving over 82 million customers in more than 200 countries and territories across multiple types of insurance, including property & casualty and life insurance.  

Linda explains how the insurance industry is evolving to address climate change. She says climate mitigation and adaptation are both needed to build systemic resilience amid compounding global crises. 

"You can no longer look at climate risk on its own, or geopolitical risk on its own, or social risk on its own. They're all interconnected and they're all compounding," Linda says. "As an insurance company, it's our job to help our customers navigate those risks and build the right resilience measures in place to be able to withstand the shocks."

This interview is the latest installment in our CSO Insights podcast series, where we talk to Chief Sustainability Officers around the world about how they're navigating the sustainability landscape. Linda says the CSO role has "changed tremendously" in recent years. Now, she says, "it's about the focus on execution. We have set all the big commitments. We have put out the plans."  

The All Things Sustainable podcast will be back with more special coverage from Climate Week Zurich throughout the week, so please stay tuned. 

Learn more about events S&P Global is hosting during Climate Week Zurich: Climate Week Zurich 2026 : Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity | S&P Global 

Listen to all the episodes in our CSO Insights series: CSO Insights by All Things Sustainable - YouTube 

Listen to previous episodes of the All Things Sustainable podcast about insurance and climate: 

Why all eyes are on insurance in climate risk conversations | S&P Global  

Why insurance is becoming central to climate risk conversations | S&P Global 

What the LA wildfires show about climate change and the future of insurance | S&P Global 

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