Insurance firms 'adapting' to climate change

Steve Scauzillo in the Daily Democrat (California): Rather than adjust to the extreme effects of climate change, many insurance companies are simply not insuring properties in low-lying coastal zones due to the threat of flooding and are canceling policies of homeowners living near hillsides that may catch fire, said insurance and government experts Friday.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, speaking at a forum examining insurance and climate change at the Pasadena Central Library's Wright Auditorium, urged insurance companies not to cancel policies but instead to plan for the inevitable changes to the planet and increasing damage claims as a result of climate change. "This is the biggest and most fundamental problem we face as a people," Jones told an audience of about 100 people. "And there is room for the insurance industry to take a leadership role as well."

Out of 184 survey responses from insurance companies sent to the commissioner's office, only 23 had a comprehensive climate change strategy. "That is way too low," he said. At stake is how insurance companies respond to huge payouts from increasingly frequent and more extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires, Jones said.

For example, when climatologist models predict more frequent and intense wildfires in Southern California due to longer periods of drought, drier conditions and extended fire seasons, some insurance companies are "pulling back" because they can't manage the risk. "That is a real problem. If a homeowner cannot get insurance, that creates real problems and risks for them," Jones said...

The 2009 Station Fire near Pasadena, shot by Ron Reiring, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license