03.08.07
Insurance Companies – the Unexpected Ally in Long-term Planning for Disaster
In the US, insured climate-related losses have gone up 10 times faster than premiums or economic growth since 1971. Lloyds of London issued a report in June, 2006 Climate Change: Adapt or Bust. outlining the challenges facing the insurance industry and their analysis of insurer’s risk from global climate change.
They recommend spending much more money on improving long-range climate forecasting models, using the models to be more aggressive in pricing insurance to reflect the weather expected for the coming season rather than pricing based on historical patterns, and presuming that climate change will occur much faster than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
I don’t think communities will be in a position to similarly raise taxes precipitously and mobilize a response if abrupt climate change occurs.
