Building resilience is often treated as an insurance policy everyone wants, but few are willing to price accurately. Because building systemic defense – whether against climate shocks, cyber warfare, or supply chain collapses – demands immediate capital expenditure for threats that may never materialize, market mechanisms naturally default to underinvestment. This creates a dangerous paradox: the cost of preparing for a crisis is known and immediate, while the cost of inaction is catastrophic but deferred.

To address possible financing models, public-private burden sharing, and regulatory incentives needed to align security needs with market logic, a dedicated Panel Discussion, titled Funding the Unthinkable: Who Pays for Resilience Before Crisis Hits?, took place as part of the Democratic Resilience track at the Warsaw Security Forum 2026. Organized in partnership with the PZU Foundation, which served as an Institutional Partner of WSF 2026, the session brought together key global decision-makers to discuss how to bridge the gap between short-term costs and long-term stability.

The discussion featured insights from Bogdan Benczak (CEO, PZU S.A.), Mikołaj Dowgielewicz (Director General and Deputy Secretary General, European Investment Bank), Beata Javorcik (Chief Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), and Alexander McWhorter (Citi Country Officer and Banking Head Ukraine). The session was moderated by Marcin Bużański (Director, Centre for Diplomacy and Negotiation at Civitas University and Advisor to the Management Board, Casimir Pulaski Foundation).

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