Adaptation finance in the EU: what role for insurers and other private financial institutions?

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has committed to presenting a European Climate Adaptation Plan in 2026. The European Commission has previously emphasised public budgets as the main source of coverage for climate-related disasters. But if both the EU’s and member states’ budgets are strained by competing investment priorities and high debt levels in some cases, what are the complementary avenues for financing adaptation in the EU? How can private financial actors, such as banks, insurance companies or asset management firms, support adaptation efforts, not only to ensure resilience (i.e. recovery) from climate disasters, but also to prevent impacts before they arrive?