David Bresch Prof. Dr. David N. Bresch is a Professor for Weather and Climate Risks at ETH Zürich/MeteoSwiss since 2016. From 2000 to 2016, he was with Swiss Re performing various roles including as Head Business Development, Global Head Sustainability, Head Atmospheric Perils Group and Chief modeler for natural catastrophe risk assessment. From 1998 to 1999 he was a Research Associate at MIT.
He had participated in the UNFCCC process in a number of capacity: As member of the Swiss UNFCCC delegation in 2009 to 2012 and 2015; as member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) from 2014 to 2016 and as Senior advisor for innovative finance in Rockefeller Foundation since 2017. Prof. Bresch holds a PhD in physics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
His current research focuses on the impacts of weather and climate on socio-economic systems – combining numerical modelling of weather and climate risks with the engagement of decision makers and end-users. It aims to explore ways to strengthen resilience based on a shared understanding of their weather and climate susceptibility. Such an integrated view along the chain of impacts also opens new perspectives to the treatment of uncertainty in decision-making.