Eliot Pernet
Axa Climate
Deputy Head of Public Sector
AXA Climate won silver in the Social, Sustainable & Responsible category at the Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2025 for its agriculture insurance initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eliot Pernet, Deputy Head of Public Sector Consulting at the company, speaks with us about this impactful project and what the recognition means to the team.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us more about your role at AXA Climate?
I’m Eliot Pernet, the Deputy Head of Public Sector Consulting at AXA Climate. Our team collaborates with international development banks and donors to create new insurance products to protect vulnerable populations against climate risks worldwide, with a focus on the most vulnerable countries.
Qorus and NTT DATA announce winners of the tenth Innovation in Insurance Awards
What made you most proud of the winning project? What was your greatest achievement in making it happen?
I’m happy to showcase how parametric insurance can help reduce poverty in vulnerable countries. This project shows that parametric insurance is a powerful technical tool to turn the loss-and-damage philosophy into reality.
What the most important thing you would tell someone considering embarking on a similar project?
Co-design your product with the ones that will be using it (farmers, local insurers, local insurance regulator). In our case, we spent several days all together physically to brainstorm and decide collectively on the product features. This is key to make sure that the product is sustainable.
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What's coming next for the project?
We will see in a few days if there will be an insurance payout for the 2025 crop season. If so, the next step will be to indemnify farmers. The other next step will be to consider a progressive transformation of this product into a micro-insurance product, to be able to propose it to farmers even once the DRC’s National Agriculture Development Program ends in four years.
What would you say to companies that might consider entering the 2026 Insurance Innovation Awards?
Make sure your project is really impactful and demonstrate it in your application.
What does this award mean to you and your innovation team?
It’s a recognition of the innovation spirit that we try to implement in the team, and an encouragement to do even better in future years!