Uninsurable: The Future of Insurance in a Changing Climate

Hear from two leading experts, as we explore how insurance is adapting to climate change and the role of the industry beyond underwriting.

Insurance plays a critical role in protecting households and businesses from the impacts of climate change, and with physical risks on the rise, it will become ever more important. However, insurers have also been significantly impacted by these risks, with annual losses from natural catastrophes exceeding 100 billion dollars for four consecutive years.

The primary concern is that these physical risks eventually become uninsurable, as we are already seeing for example with wildfires in California, leaving communities without the very protection that they most need. In this episode, we explore how the insurance industry has and should respond to these challenges, including:

• How insurance modelling must evolve to better capture the physical risks from climate change;
• The role of insurers in helping clients and policymakers understand and prepare for physical climate risks; and
• Why adaptation is now a top priority for allowing insurance to be effective and help spread climate resilience across our society and economy.

To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr

For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate

If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com

 

Speaker’s Bio(s)

Annemarie Büttner, Lead Climate Risk Solutions, Swiss Re

Annemarie leads on corporate climate risk solutions at Swiss Re, helping companies identify, assess, reduce, and report the impacts of climate change to their businesses. She has 10-years’ experience focused on consulting and insurance, working on a range of topics including renewables, natural catastrophes, and parametric insurance.

Swenja Surminski, Managing Director Climate and Sustainability, Marsh McLennan

Swenja is the managing director of climate and sustainability at Marsh McLennan, as well as a Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. In her career as an academic, Swenja researched climate risk management and resilience strategies, with a focus on public policies, financial instruments and individual behaviour. She has also held several advisory roles with corporates, regulatory authorities and governments, including the Bank of England and the World Bank.