Professional services firm Marsh McLennan announced today the appointment of Dr. Swenja Surminski as Managing Director of Climate and Sustainability

In her new role, Surminski will head the firm’s though leadership on climate and sustainability, working with the climate talent across Marsh McLennan’s four businesses, which include Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman. Surminski will serve on the Marsh McLennan Advantage Insights team.

Surminski joins March McLennan from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, part of the London School of Economics, where she served as Deputy Director and Head of Adaptation Research, overseeing research projects on climate adaptation, loss and damage of climate change, and disaster risk finance, and conducting research investigating climate risk management and resilience strategies focusing on public policies, financial instruments and  individual behaviour. Surminski will continue to hold a role a Grantham as Distinguished Policy Fellow focusing on Sustainable Finance and Natural Capital.

Surminski currently serves as chair of the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative as a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and was a contributing author to the IPCC and the EU Science for Disaster Risk Management Report, a Visiting Academic on the Bank of England’s first report on climate change in 2015, and lead author for the business and industry chapter of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment in 2017.

Prior to her academic career, Surminski worked for over ten years in the insurance industry on climate and risk management, including in the Risk Management division of Marsh & McLennan in London from 2003 to 2007.

In a social media post announcing the appointment, Dr. Surminski wrote:

“Very excited about my new role as Managing Director Climate and Sustainability with Marsh McLennan Advantage. A long time ago I did my graduate training at Marsh – great to be back! Looking forward to collaborating with the fantastic MMC Advantage team, and with colleagues from across Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman.”