‘Improve resilience in climate change’

The global threat of rising sea levels and warmer sea surface temperatures as a result of climate change is an area in which the entire risk transfer landscape must increase its efforts, and capitalise on the opportunity to improve resilience, according to risk management and reinsurance industry experts. At the 2016 RIMS conference held in San Diego recently, executives and experts from the insurance and reinsurance sector emphasised to A.M. Best the need for the industry to increase its efforts surrounding climate change and its risks.

“The one scientifically credible fact is that sea levels are rising, whether that’s cyclical, whether that’s man-made, is the area of worldwide debate,” said Swiss Re managing director, Jamie Miller, highlighting just how much uncertainty and discussion remains regarding the influence and impacts of climate change on sea levels and natural catastrophes events.

“Climate change has been voted as the most likely issue in 2016 to impact global business development,” said Linda Conrad, head of strategic business risk, Zurich. “So it is something that the risk management community really needs to pay attention to.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that climate change is severe, it is here to stay and we in the industry have to address it,” said Mario Vitale, chief

executive officer, Aspen Global Insurance. “That means we have to address it as consumers, homeowners and people that run businesses and insurers. The models of 1-in-100, 1-in-200 or 1-in-250 loss events no longer hold true. While we have to give some weight to those, we also have to create more modern models that address these climate change issues.”