Global insurers seek clear plan on climate as losses, risks rise

Business Mirror (Philippines): The insurance industry demanded political leaders to develop a clear climate-change adaptation framework that can help companies accurately price insurance coverage to help people around the world in reducing the climate risks. Andrew Torrance, chairman of an association of 42 insurance companies called ClimateWise, said on Monday the global insurance industry is ready to explore how best to extend the benefits of members’ expertise to those affected by climate risk.

“We acknowledge that climate change is happening, and the severity and frequency of natural disasters have increased as a result of a changing climate. Insurance cannot be an alternative to adaptation, rather robust adaptation is a necessary condition for insurers to play a full role,” said Torrance, who is also the CEO of Allianz Group, one of the world’s largest financial conglomerates.

For insurers to play their fullest role in helping customers around the world manage these growing risks, Torrance stressed that “governments must make adequate investments, for example, in adaptation measures to ensure those risks remain manageable,” Torrance said. He further explained that annual insurance losses from wind storms could increase by two-thirds later in the century and the chances of very hot summers in Europe, such as in 2003 when at least 22,000 people died of heat stroke….

Hurricane Katrina damage in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, showing the 179-foot (55-m) cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper in trees along the shore of the bayou. NOAA