Nima Patel Edwards

Background

Nima is a director in the KPMG ESG & Climate Advisory Services focused on ESG strategy and has broad experience working climate and social strategy, climate risk and resilience, and mitigation. Nima has worked with insurance and financial services clients to help them to assess their regulatory requirements and develop an ESG strategy and target operating model. She has worked with large U.S. insurers on ESG assessment and regulatory readiness. Nima worked at FEMA’s Flood Insurance and Mitigation Directorate developing policies, conducting analytics, and developing a first of its kind flood insurance affordability program framework. She also has knowledge of best practices across the U.S. in addressing climate risk with a focus on environmental justice and has had hands on experience with responding to natural disasters. Nima has a strong background in assessing and applying government regulation and serves both government and insurance clients.

Professional and industry experience

•Experience in ESG strategy includes the following: Conducting combined TCFD | SEC | CSRD diagnostic assessment, proposed climate rule diagnostics and assessments, developed ESG materiality assessment; developing a climate action plan and strategy for a federal regulatory agency, led a team to develop New York City’s decarbonization model and scenarios

•Frequent speaker on ESG, and physical perils and their growing impact on homeowners and DEI at marquee events on ESG including the KPMG insurance conference, World Affairs Council annual conference, and ESG CPE events for clients.

Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, FEMA

•Developed the methodology and was a lead author on a study on flood insurance affordability and developed a program for this issue impacting the 2 million disadvantaged, low-income households living in high-risk areas for flooding. The study was the basis of a proposal on affordability in the Biden Administration’s FY22 budget. Created federal partner and academic group to gather information and best practices and obtain feedback on affordability proposals. FEMA Releases Affordability Framework for the National Flood Insurance Program | FEMA.gov. Served on a working group for FEMA’s White House initiative on resilience and disasters for at-risk populations and led efforts for congressional reauthorization of the NFIP program

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

•Led performance audits for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) of for federal regulatory bodies including the Federal Reserve, OCC, NCUA, NAIC Focusing on financial markets, housing, insurance, and flood insurance and climate.