The Centre for Disaster Protection (the Centre) has launched Labs, a new innovation platform designed to accelerate practical solutions that help governments better plan, finance, and respond to disasters.
Conor Meenan will be leading this initiative as Head of Labs.
As modern disasters grow in scale and complexity, traditional reactive funding models are proving insufficient. Labs aims to bridge this gap by working closely with governments and partners to co-design open, practical tools that improve disaster preparedness and risk financing.
By bringing together government decision-makers, technical experts, and practitioners, Labs aims to develop solutions that are grounded in real policy needs and designed for use in real-world decision-making and solution design.
“ Meenan said: “Disasters are becoming more frequent, more complex, and more costly. At the same time, disaster risk financing remains technically complex. Countries face difficult questions about how to estimate the full financial cost of disasters, when funds should be triggered, and how to choose the right mix of financing instruments. While tools and knowledge exist, they are often fragmented, difficult to access, or not designed for practical use in policy settings.
“Our goal is to close this gap by co-designing open, scalable solutions that help countries (and partners) better understand financial risks, make informed decisions about financing options, and ensure funds can flow quickly when disasters strike.”
Labs is guided by three principles: Bold, Open, and Grounded. This means prioritising solutions for the scale and complexity of modern disasters; working collaboratively and sharing knowledge openly; and developing tools rooted in real policy and operational needs to accelerate effective and scalable pre-arranged disaster risk financing.
Labs has already begun working with partners on its first portfolio of projects in 2026, with tools and resources made freely available online as they are developed.
The innovation platform will focus on delivering open, scalable solutions that can be adapted across different countries and contexts.
Initial areas of exploration include tools to help governments quantify financial exposure to disasters, design effective parametric triggers for disaster financing, and compare options for structuring disaster risk financing instruments.
Daniel Clarke, Executive Director of the Centre for DisasterProtection, said: “I’m delighted that Conor is stepping into this role to lead Labs. He brings deep expertise in disaster risk financing and a strong track record of working with clients to develop practical solutions. With a strong pipeline of work set to begin in 2026, Labs will help accelerate the development of open, scalable tools that strengthen how countries plan and pay for disasters.
“Through initiatives such as Labs, the Centre continues to play a leading role in advancing innovation in disaster risk financing, developing practical solutions that strengthen global resilience to increasingly complex risks.”
