Insurance industry 'should be forced to insure those at climate risk'

Brad Allen at edie.net: The insurance industry should be forced to protect citizens at risk from climate change, a new report from the University of Cambridge's Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has claimed.

The report, titled Insurance regulation for sustainable development, analysed the role of the insurance industry in protecting societies against climate risk. It found that, as well as providing financial protection, insurers could encourage people to better protect themselves from climate risks through incentives in insurance contracts.

The industry also has a unique expertise in identifying and mitigating risk, argued the report, while the global nature of insurance markets would help to spread the financial impact of climate disasters, especially for poor regions. As a result, the report urges policy makers to “utilize insurance regulation as an essential policy instrument to protect populations and assets from climate risks”.

Put simply, lead author of the study Dr Ana Gonzalez Pelaez argues that as many people as possible need to have access to insurance. Gonzalez Palaez will present her findings at the United Nations Third Financing for Development Conference this week in Addis Ababa. Commenting on the launch of her report, Gonzalez Palaez said: “Insurance should receive higher emphasis to ensure delivery on various policy commitments across the Post 2015 agenda....

Cyclone damage in South Townsville, Australia, shot by Rob and Stephanie Levy, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license