climate adaptation

The deepening of the world’s understanding, measurement and valuation of climate risks is going to drive a massive demand for contingent risk capital, which parametric triggers and insurance-linked securities (ILS) will be well-suited to serve, Rowan Douglas of Willis Towers Watson explained during our ILS NYC event this week.

Climate change and the future state of our climate may mean increased damage and ultimately insurance and reinsurance market losses from hurricanes, as more frequent storms and sea-level rise ramp up storm surge impacts in particular.

It is time for the world to act on climate change as it will play an increasing role in disaster losses, Torsten Jeworrek of reinsurance company Munich Re warned today.

The physical climate risk protection gap, so the gulf between climate related losses covered by insurance, reinsurance or risk transfer and those going uncovered, is widening, but instruments such as insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and other blended financing solutions can help to narrow this gap.

The Climate Measurement Standards Initiative (CMSI), an Australian led collaboration on the physical risks of climate change and their disclosure, has developed a set of open-source, voluntary guidelines to help banks, financial institutions and insurers better assess the risk and quantify the costs of climate-related damage.

Global action to combat climate change is essential to avoid the exposure becoming systemic in nature, which might cause it to become less insurable, according to Munich Re’s CEO of Reinsurance, Torsten Jeworrek.

Following the increased severity and frequency of wildfires, droughts and floods in recent times, the undeniable impact of climate change on water-related catastrophes is starting to get priced in and risk premiums are adjusting, according to Niklaus Hilti, Head of Credit Suisse’s Insurance-Linked Strategies division.

The reality of climate change needs to be addressed and addressed fast by countries, governments and public sector entities, and the risk transfer, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) sectors are well-placed to assist, according to Guy Carpenter.

Significant insurance and reinsurance industry players are backing a new non-profit start-up that aims to drive forwards the development of an open standard for sharing climate data, with the goal of enabling better design and development of climate risk related financial products along with the use of artificial intelligence.

To reach the required levels of adaptation and increase the world’s resilience to climate change, parametric insurance is critical in order to manage the long-term impacts and the transition, according to Carl Hess, Head of Investment, Risk and Reinsurance at broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW).